I'm completely indifferent to what genre I read provided that I feel sympathy with how a writer perceives being alive in the world.

Madness, mayhem, erotic vandalism, devastation of innumerable souls - while we scream and perish, History licks a finger and turns the page.

Look at your body— A painted puppet, a poor toy Of jointed parts ready to collapse, A diseased and suffering thing With a head full of false imaginings. —The Dhammapada

Nonexistence never hurt anyone. Existence hurts everyone.

Most people learn to save themselves by artificially limiting the content of consciousness.

It has always seemed to me that my existence consisted purely and exclusively of nothing but the most outrageous nonsense.

The only value of this world lay in its power - at certain times - to suggest another world.

Officially there are no fates worse than death. Unofficially, there is a profusion of such fates. For some people, just living with the thought that they will die is a fate worse than death itself.

Everything is ultimately peculiar and ultimately ridiculous.

Consciousness has forced us into the paradoxical position of striving to be unself-conscious of what we are - hunks of spoiling flesh on disintegrating bones.

To my mind, a well-developed sense of humor is the surest indication of a person's humanity, no matter how black and bitter that humor may be.

God has the key to open the heart of every soul.

Politicians are judged by what they say and they don't do

One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people's minds.

They were numerically outnumbered.

I think the crucial thing in the writing career is to find what you want to do and how you fit in. What somebody else does is of no concern whatever except as an interesting variation.

It seems like everyone's listening to fiddles and banjos.

Character is half the reason we read. We're excited because of the plot, but we care because of the characters.

We cannot resist the fascination of sacrifice, since a passion for sacrifices is part of a Chessplayer's nature

My greatest accomplishment is the freedom for doing what I want to do with my music...I love my freedom so I'm happy I am a free artist.