Before the development of tourism, travel was conceived to be like study, and it's fruits were considered to be the adornment of the mind and the formation of the judgment.

Chickenshit can be recognized instantly because it never has anything to do with winning the war.

Wars damage the civilian society as much as they damage the enemy. Soldiers never get over it.

Americans are the only people in the world known to me whose status anxiety prompts them to advertise their college and university affiliations in the rear window of their automobiles.

If I didn't have writing, I'd be running down the street hurling grenades in people's faces.

i find nothing more depressing than optimism.

A more or less accurate measure of class in America is TV size: the bigger your TV, the lower your class.

Anybody who notices unpleasant facts in the have-a-nice-day world we live in is going to be designated a curmudgeon.

If we do not redefine manhood, war is inevitable.

Anyone telling about his travels must be a liar, . . . for if a traveler doesn't visit his narrative with the spirit and techniques of fiction, no one will want to hear it.

Travelers learn not just foreign customs and curious cuisines and unfamiliar beliefs and novel forms of government. They learn, if they are lucky, humility.

Life is neither static nor unchanging. With no individuality, there can be no change, no adaptation and, in an inherently changing world, any species unable to adapt is also doomed.

He prayeth well who loveth well Both man and bird and beast. He prayeth best who loveth best All things both great and small For the dear God who loveth us He made and loveth all.

I want to work for myself, and I do work for myself. I make plenty of money working for myself.

My brother is a comic-book writer, and I was always in love with comics.

I've been doing a lot of yoga to help with my running, recovery, and mental clarity. It works great for me.

I always write my novels with music (I don't listened to the music seriously.) Music seems to encourage me.

What is denominated discretion in man we call cunning in brutes.

Writing well means never having to say, 'I guess you had to be there.'

That's how things were out here in the wild, she was learning. Dangerous or beautiful. Or both.

The problem is that our inherent ignorance keeps us in samsara and unable to benefit ourselves and others on a really deep level.