I'll say one thing about an oil boom; it will teach a kid that Life's a pretty rotten thing as quick as anything I can think of.

Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.

The more I see of what you call civilization, the more highly I think of what you call savagery!

Barbarianism is the natural state of mankind. Civilization is unnatural. It is the whim of circumstance. And barbarianism must ultimately triumph

Break the skin of civilization and you find the ape, roaring and red-handed.

The only safe enemy was a headless enemy.

For man's only weapon is courage that flinches not from the gates of Hell itself, and against such not even the legions of Hell can stand.

But not all men seek rest and peace; some are born with the spirit of the storm in their blood.

What is death but a traversing of eternities and a crossing of cosmic oceans?

Man can be that which he wishes to be; form and substance, they are but shadows. The mind, the ego, the essence of the god-dream -- that is real, that is immortal.

I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content.

Enjoying nonsense is one of life's primal pleasures.

I never listen to the radio unless I rent a car.

People in every direction No words exchanged No time to exchange And all the little ants are marching Red and black antennas waving They all do it the same We all do it the same way

I'm certainly never going to say that someone is prettier than Julia Louis-Dreyfus, but someone who would make her crazy for being young and good-looking.

In some ways Lester Young is the most complex rhythmically of any musician. He does some things which are just phenomenal.

Success is not a destination, but the road that you’re own.

I once wore a peekaboo blouse. People would peek and then they’d boo.

I grew up in the Baptist Church, and going to church with my father; I remember being 8 years old, trying to determine whether I was really ready to give up sin, and for days I agonized.

The only way to change the future is to change the present.

Happily, at forty-six I still feel as experimental and on the verge of getting at the truth as ever.