New York was no mere city. It was instead an infinitely romantic notion, the mysterious nexus of all love and money and power, the shining and perishable dream itself.

The wind shows us how close to the edge we are.

The willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life is the source from which self-respect springs.

To cure jealousy is to see it for what it is, a dissatisfaction with self.

We are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not.

I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.

Memory fades, memory adjusts, memory conforms to what we think we remember.

We forget all too soon the things we thought we could never forget.

The fear is for what is still to be lost.

Do not whine... Do not complain. Work harder. Spend more time alone.

Short stories demand a certain awareness of one's own intentions, a certain narrowing of the focus.

The greatest crimes in the world are not committed against the body, but against the freedom of the consciousness.

Life is wonderful. It's a gift to be alive, to see the sun and breathe the air. And there isn't really anything else.

The health of your future kids does not start with their birth—it starts with you, right now, well before you plan to impregnate your wife.

My songs are my hookers. I can't worry about how they are going to be treated; they just need to bring home the bacon.

It is easy to be heavy: hard to be light.

[T]he German censorship forbade or mutilated my every book, which was like sticking pins into my soul.

We are all alone, trapped in these bodies and our own minds, and whatever company we have in this life is only fleeting and superficial.

Holding a grudge is never positive or appropriate.

Religion is not any particular teaching. Religion is everywhere.