I like the mentality of the Americans. It's like when you talk about money.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Money is our madness, our vast collective madness.
I've always told my children that Americans will tell you pretty much anything, but that convention dictates that we don't like to talk money or politics.
The only problem I have with American money is that it's all kind of the same color, so I'm always having to look. Whereas with Australian money, you have purple, blue, yellow... We keep it nice and simple.
The American people need to know that money is being used effectively because frankly, the nation can't afford careless spending, no matter how well-intentioned.
Americans are uneasy with their possessions, guilty about power, all of which is difficult for Europeans to perceive because they are themselves so truly materialistic, so versed in the uses of power.
We do not have a money problem in America. We have a values and priorities problem.
The mentality in Washington is, 'Look what our government - what our government can do for the American people.' We've got to get away from that mentality, and realize it's too expensive. We can't afford it.
I think Americans like the practical; they like the human. And I like both those things myself, and I try and put them into my books.
If American men are obsessed with money, American women are obsessed with weight. The men talk of gain, the women talk of loss, and I do not know which talk is the more boring.
I wish Americans thought more like Europeans when it comes to money and work. They take time off, they do what they love. We think work is the most valued commodity. Really the most valued commodity is time.