For these cultures, getting rid of the pain without addressing the deeper cause would be like shutting off a fire alarm while the fire's still going.

I do things like get in a taxi and say, "The library, and step on it.

It can become an exercise in trying to get the reader to like and admire you instead of an exercise in creative art.

One of the things that makes Wittgenstein a real artist to me is that he realized that no conclusion could be more horrible than solipsism.

If your fidelity to perfectionism is too high, you never do anything.

I know I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid enough?

This might be one way to start talking about differences between the early postmodern writers of the fifties and sixties and their contemporary descendants.

How odd I can have all this inside me and to you it’s just words.

Everybody is identical in their secret unspoken belief that way deep down they are different from everyone else.

In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship.

In reality, there is no such thing as not voting: you either vote by voting, or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the value of some Diehard's vote.

Foolish men always believe that a little knowledge will give them control over the world, but it is no more than a display of their vanity.

You know I want to be a directos, but you could never truly see the movies in my head and that, Ed, is why we broke up.

Design: holding conflicting ideas in your head without difficulty

Coaches can teach you two things: confidence and technique.

Being a role model is about being true to myself.

We like little children, because they tear out as soon as they get what they want.

If you want your hair to be thicker, cut it when the moon is about to be full - a heavy, full, waxing moon. Do not cut it when the moon's waning.

Your waist size should not be more than half your height.

Miracle me no miracles.

The opposite of consumption isn't thrift. It's generosity.