Literature is the only way to run away without leaving home.

Old paint on canvas, as it ages, sometimes becomes transparent. When that happens it is possible, in some pictures, to see the original lines: a tree will show through a woman's dress, a child makes way for a dog, a large boat is no longer on an open sea. That is called pentimento because the painter 'repented,' changed his mind. Perhaps it would be as well to say that the old conception, replaced by a later choice, is a way of seeing and then seeing again.

I think it's important to have a sense of humor about life.

I'm not a rapper, I'm an Oscar winner.

Writing is making sense of life. You work your whole life and perhaps you've made sense of one small area.