I look upon [writing about religion] as a nice way to get by in this precarious world, though I've never been able to do it myself.

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.

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

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.

No one is thinking about you. They're thinking about themselves, just like you.

Adversity often defines dignity.

You can't fake wrestling. We can fake punch, but with wrestling you just have to go ahead and do it. You really need to see the hand hit the face, the head butting and everything.

People take conventional ways that other people have always decorated their cars, and use them as ways of giving other people permission to approach them.

If I had wanted to ice the little toad, I would have done it a long time ago.

Experiencing differences is crucial to the human condition. Especially when that difference is over the head, blower powder.

This idea where, in this safe haven for Jews, Jews will threaten to kill other Jews, it wasn't in the brochure.

And there's always a better time than right now and there always will be. But right now is what we've got.

I think you have to be very careful getting the balance right if you're going to talk about grand themes like war, death and nationhood. You need to use the right language or don't do it at all.

I've grown up with dogs and love dogs.