I relied mainly on other artists, who I think are smarter than critics, any critics or curators or anybody like that. They really know.

I like contrasting between black and white and color.

I know where the mistakes are. Nothing is perfect and I understand that.

I try not to manipulate reality... What will happen, will happen. Let things be themselves.

I like the work hanging free in the frame. I don't like too much frame around it but I like a little breathing space around the piece.

I like working late at night and then going into the house and sitting down and watching a movie and then going to sleep.

I had always worked. I always had part-time jobs.

I liked the idea of the words floating in space and the space behind it moving all the time, ever changing.

And we live in a kind of realm of language and words and so forth. So we can sort of relate to them. They don't exist without us. We create words.

Art was something that I was really interested in, probably more so than writing or anything else.

Developing your own style became something very interesting, very important to me.

GREAT SECRET Whenever I’m learning something difficult, I keep expectations low, and aspirations high.

There is nothing I can give to the lost, except this: I have a responsibility I need to fathom. I have a sorrow I cannot weigh.

Given my age, I am pretty near the end, probably, of my career as a writer, a scholar, a teacher. And I wanted to speak of things I will not be able to do.

I want everything, no matter what concept or genre, to feel real, because it is real. I want to keep making real music, I hope people remember me for that, that's a good thing to be remembered for.

Thoughts are wonderful things, that they can bring two people, so far apart, into harmony and understanding for even a little while.

You can tell people of the need to struggle, but when the powerless start to see that they really can make a difference, nothing can quench the fire.

All those "and they lived happily ever after" fairy tale endings need to be changed to "and they began the very hard work of making their marriages happy."

Everything in my life has been challenging but rewarding.

In love, happiness is an abnormal state.

If somebody praises us and if we have any humility we will feel totally like a fool.