Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things.

The discipline of the written word punishes both stupidity and dishonesty.

I ain’t never far away from a pencil and paper or a tape recorder.

I don’t know how much longer I’ll be around. I’ll probably be writing when the Lord says, ‚Maya, Maya Angelou, it’s time.‘

The Internet has compromised the quality of debate.

Kids who have an understanding of how and why their feelings are what they are are much more likely to talk to us about what’s happening, and they have better skills to work it out.

You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.

I’m going to save my public voice largely for the issues where I have some depth.

I’m actually a very honest person, and sometimes I end up like, ‚Man, I said too much.‘ It’s hard for me not to tell the truth when you ask me.

I try to speak in everyday language. I feel like God has gifted me to take Bible principles and make them practical.

I want to be an honest man and a good writer.

I can honestly say, after talking about my mom passing away, I got the biggest weight off of my chest. Comedy is my therapy. That’s how I deal with my problems, my personal battles. I talk about it. I give it to my fans. When they laugh at it, it’s a release, for lack of a better word.

Broadly speaking, the short words are the best, and the old words best of all.

I write all my sermons.

You don’t have to be a renowned artist like Q-Tip to try your hand at poetry. You don’t need any special equipment – that’s the beauty of it.

When a thoughtless or unkind word is spoken, best tune out.

If you want to influence people, you want them to accept your suggestions, you don’t say, ‚You don’t know how to use the English language,‘ or ‚How could you make that argument?‘ It will be welcomed much more if you have a gentle touch than if you are aggressive.

When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike.

I talk to myself all the time. Just make sure you answer.

People are more aware now of cities and of different ways of life. I suppose the writing I do is a bit in the past, and I’m not sure it’s the kind of writing I would do if I were starting now.

Eating words has never given me indigestion.

The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar, familiar things new.

I’m a writer, and I will write what I want to write.

Keep silence for the most part, and speak only when you must, and then briefly.

As a country, we can’t teach kids how to read and write when we got 18 years to do it. And that’s – that’s a disgrace.

So many writers don’t like to write… I like to write, and sometimes I’m afraid I like it too much, because when I get into work, I don’t want to leave it. And as a result, I’ll go for days and days and days without leaving my house.

Like a pianist runs her fingers over the keys, I’ll search my mind for what to say. Now, the poem may want you to write it. And then sometimes you see a situation and think, ‚I’d like to write about that.‘ Those are two different ways of being approached by a poem, or approaching a poem.

I maintain that, if everyone knew what others said about him, there would not be four friends in the world.

I was married a few times, and one of my husbands was jealous of me writing.

You don’t tell deliberate lies, but sometimes you have to be evasive.

Charlotte Bronte was writing about sex. I supposed Jane Austen was, too. Where do you get a hero like Darcy unless you are writing about sex?

In order that all men may be taught to speak the truth, it is necessary that all likewise should learn to hear it.

He that would live in peace and at ease must not speak all he knows or all he sees.

I liked to write from the time I was about 12 or 13. I loved to read. And since I only spoke to my brother, I would write down my thoughts. And I think I wrote some of the worst poetry west of the Rockies. But by the time I was in my 20s, I found myself writing little essays and more poetry – writing at writing.

Nobody can write the life of a man but those who have eat and drunk and lived in social intercourse with him.

Once I’ve written something it does tend to run away from me. I don’t seem to have any part of it – it’s no longer my piece of writing.

It is healthier, in any case, to write for the adults one’s children will become than for the children one’s ‚mature‘ critics often are.

It’s a fact that more people watch television and get their information that way than read books. I find new technology and new ways of communication very exciting and would like to do more in this field.

I guess, taking away all the theatrics or the costuming and the outer layers of what I do, I’m a writer… I write.

The essence of lying is in deception, not in words.

The issues a president faces are not black and white, and cannot be boiled down into 140 characters. Because when you have the nuclear codes at your fingertips and the military at your command, you can’t make snap decisions. You can’t have a thin skin or the tendency to lash out.

Deliver me from writers who say the way they live doesn’t matter. I’m not sure a bad person can write a good book, If art doesn’t make us better, then what on earth is it for.

There was one incident at a movie theater where my girl got mad at these guys who were talking behind us. I never looked back there, but she was like, ‚Will you all just shut up!‘ And I just got up and moved three rows in front. She was like, ‚What are you doing?!‘ I was like, ‚You better get up here! I don’t play the fighting games.‘

The short words are best, and the old words are the best of all.

When a politician uses the word ‚folks,‘ we should brace ourselves for the deceit, or worse, that is coming.

In writing, I apply my feminine side and respect the mystery involved in creation.

True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, as those move easiest who have learn’d to dance.

I guess I’m just inspired to tell stories.

When I looked at the third base coach, he turned his back on me.

I don’t need therapy. I’m not going to see a therapist; comedy acts as my therapy. I put my problems out there. I talk about them. I talk about everything before anybody has a chance.

We are much beholden to Machiavel and others, that write what men do, and not what they ought to do.

Who you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you’re saying.

If you make listening and observation your occupation you will gain much more than you can by talk.

I meant what I said and I said what I meant.

I’ve been asked this question so many times, do you feel you need to write a book for adults? No, I don’t need to write a book for adults.

At Facebook, we build tools to help people connect with the people they want and share what they want, and by doing this we are extending people’s capacity to build and maintain relationships.

Before I lost my voice, it was slurred, so only those close to me could understand, but with the computer voice, I found I could give popular lectures. I enjoy communicating science. It is important that the public understands basic science, if they are not to leave vital decisions to others.

With me poetry has not been a purpose, but a passion.

Of course, like anybody I repeat myself endlessly, but I don’t know that I’m doing it, usually.

Woe to the makers of literal translations, who by rendering every word weaken the meaning! It is indeed by so doing that we can say the letter kills and the spirit gives life.

The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly greater than that of any other animal.