New Orleans is not in the grip of a neurosis of a denied past; it passes out memories generously like a great lord; it doesn't have to pursue "the real thing."

When men stop believing in God, it isn't that they then believe in nothing: they believe in everything.

If you interact with things in your life, everything is constantly changing. And if nothing changes, you're an idiot.

I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren't trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.

Absence is to love as wind is to fire: it extinguishes the little flame, it fans the big.

There are four types: the cretin, the imbecile, the stupid and the mad. Normality is a balanced mixture of all four.

I love the smell of book ink in the morning.

To survive, you must tell stories.

But Italy is not an intellectual country. On the subway in Tokyo everybody reads. In Italy, they don't. Don't evaluate Italy from the fact that it produced Raphael and Michelangelo.

Poetry is not a matter of feelings, it is a matter of language. It is language which creates feelings.

We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.

…and to all you other cats and chicks out there, sweet or otherwise, buried deep in wordy tombs, who never yet have walked from off the page, a shake and a hug and a kiss and a drink. Cheers!

The impact of relationships can be subtle yet powerful. Make a conscious effort to them choose wisely.

When you choose a career that is aligned with your passion, the work becomes irrelevant because anticipation and fulfillment can outweigh everything.

Why is it they say you always hurt the ones you love? Because you know exactly how to do it.

Man can be an atheist only in theory, not in practice, because the universe is too frightening and too chaotic to be too independent!

Hope is a light diet but very stimulating.

Put three grains of sand inside a vast cathedral, and the cathedral will be more closely packed with sand than space is with stars.

I've always had a great love of music since childhood. It changes every day.. every time you write, it's a new experience. It's a self expression.

People want to be part of something larger than themselves. They want to be part of something they're really proud of, that they'll fight for, sacrifice for, that they trust.

You define your own life. Don't let other people write your script.