A writer - and, I believe, generally all persons - must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource.

So plant your own gardens and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

Being with you and not being with you is the only way I have to measure time.

Don't talk unless you can improve the silence.

I am not sure that I exist, actually. I am all the writers that I have read, all the people that I have met, all the women that I have loved; all the cities I have visited.

I cannot sleep unless I am surrounded by books.

The worst labyrinth is not that intricate form that can entrap us forever, but a single and precise straight line

The fact is that poetry is not the books in the library . . . Poetry is the encounter of the reader with the book, the discovery of the book.

Nothing is built on stone; all is built on sand, but we must build as if the sand were stone.

I can give you my loneliness, my darkness, the hunger of my heart, I am trying to bribe you with uncertainty, with danger, with defeat.

The original is unfaithful to the translation.

He didn't marry you to become king. He became king because he wanted to marry you.

For the purpose of pursuit not to be stated is to invite threatening danger

Thou shouldst not decide until thou hast heard what both have to say.

I'm the kind of person that thinks that you should get what you deserve in what you show, with actions, not with words.

Joy's a subtle elf, I think man's happiest when he forgets himself.

My sister and I were born in San Francisco. When our parents died, we came down here to live with relatives.

You're my Red Reaper, and I've missed you terribly.

Indians chase the vision, white men chase the dollar.

People are impressed with me - because I can sleep for just 45 minutes - I'm used to it.