The philosophy behind much advertising is based on the old observation that every man is really two men - the man he is and the man he wants to be.

One of the indictments of civilizations is that happiness and intelligence are so rarely found in the same person.

Any man who makes a speech more than six times a year is bound to repeat himself, not because he has little to say, but because he wants applause and the old stuff gets it.

Setting a good example for your children takes all the fun out of middle age.

Cell phones, alas, have pretty much ruined train travel, which I used to love. I could read or even sketch notes for what I was working on.

I travel so much on stories, so I don't take vacation much, but one place I go back to again and again is my ranch.

Travel writing is harrowing. You are in paradise, more or less, having to prove it is paradise. It is hard to have a good time trying to figure out a way to say you are having a good time, whether you are having it or not, even in paradise.

A travel book is about someone who goes somewhere, travels on the ground, sees something and spends quite a lot of time doing it, and has a hard time, and then comes back and writes about it. It's not about inventing.