"The longing for a very garish kind of success seems as widespread among writers as among investment bankers."

“Having children made us look differently at all these things that we take for granted, like taking your child to get a vaccine against measles or polio.”

“It's very hard not to be a scoundrel nowadays. Everywhere there are pressures that work towards our personal and collective debasement.”

Source : "Flor de Obsessão: as 1000 melhores frases de Nelson Rodrigues" by Companhia das Letras, (p. 34), 1992.

“In a dream it's typical not to be rational.”

“Having your book edited is like watching your cat being operated on. It's uncomfortable and someone is probably going to get hurt. Most likely the cat. But in the end, things work out for the best and your cat is better it. And then your cat gets released in hardcover, and you have to read all of his reviews.”

“It's hard for me to sympathize with a young person who chooses to go into the military because they know where they're going. I think we need to start depopulating the military.”

“Nobody wants you to stop, obviously because you're a moneymaking machine. But you have to make the decision and you have to move forward. So I took time off to have babies and do all that.”

Source : "Donna Summer: 'Then I sought help'". Interview with Soledad O'Brien, www.cnn.com. October 22, 2003.

“Once we've made a decision, we are efficient only if we go through with it decisively, undistracted by doubts about its correctness.”

“Men who ape the saint and play the sinner.”