A lot of people get the wrong impression, think there's something romantic or tragic about hitting bottom.

Some people were born just so they could be buried.

If a person does this for just a couple of years and discovers that it just isn't for him, that's okay. At least he can move on knowing that he gave it his best shot.

Look, girls don't care how many push-ups you can do. They just want to get high and wear flowers in their hair. Maybe steal a car.

The Oxys filled holes in me I hadn't realized were empty. It was, at least for those first few months, a wonderful way to be disabled. I felt blessed.

I'm beginning to believe that anything I do to extend my life is just going to be outweighed by the agony of living it.

Though there are still many good people out there in the world, it seems that they're vastly outnumbered by the stupid, selfish, violent ones.

I spent thirty-two years in a paper mill in southern Ohio, and before that I worked in a meatpacking plant and a shoe factory.

When I turned fifty, I decided to quit the mill and go to graduate school.

I sort of like writing about weird characters, I guess.

I was always a big reader, even when everything was bad and miserable.

Some statesmen go to Congress and some go to jail. It is the same thing after all.

Associate with those who help you believe in yourself.

The people of this nation are eminently a trafficking people; and the present standard of honesty, as to trade and debts, is very low, and every year seems sinking still lower.

"Found something?"..."No, sorry. I thought I had, but, no, it turned out to be, uh… more floor."

The bravest sight in all this world is a man fighting against odds.

In spite of calamity, He still has a plan for me, And it's working for my good, And it's building my testimony.

As far as possible, I want nothing more than to don my training gi and teach Karate.

If you're in despair, you don't know how to be part of your own life anymore.

My style is mainly about comfort. It has to be comfortable, it has to lay right on me, know what I mean?

When you're writing, at least when I'm writing, I don't think about themes and I try not to sermonize with any particular message.