My characters are quite as real to me as so-called real people; which is one reason why I'm not subject to what is known as loneliness. I have plenty of company.

We must all face the fact that our leaders are certifiably insane or worse

After one look at this planet any visitor from outer space would say 'I want to see the manager.'

After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn't do it.

Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.

What does the money machine eat? It eats youth, spontaneity, life, beauty, and, above all, it eats creativity. It eats quality and sh*ts quantity.

I think anybody incapable of changing his mind is crazy.

Man is an artifact designed for space travel. He is not designed to remain in his present biologic state any more than a tadpole is designed to remain a tadpole.

The cat does not offer services. The cat offers itself.

Artists to my mind are the real architects of change, and not the political legislators who implement change after the fact.

Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape.

Even more than a heart, hope was a necessary traveling companion.

Feeling free of full & empty, feeling here but also there, Neither or but simply both, a universe within, one single stare.

Lately it has become more and more difficult to attend dinner parties without the evening ending in gunfire or tapioca.

Truth or tact? You have to choose. Most times they're not compatible. It's so hard to draw the line.

There's not a person in Virginia won't try to sell you a horse. It's in 'em.

If by gaining knowledge we destroy our health, we labour for a thing that will be useless in our hands.

The people who cast the votes decide nothing; the people who count the votes decide everything.

I mean, the general rule is if you're not prepared to make a mistake, you're not going to make much progress.

The hardest [part] is some of the misperceptions that are leveled against me as a person and against Muslim women.

We will discover the nature of our particular genius when we stop trying to conform to our own or other people's models, learn to be ourselves, and allow our natural channel to open.