On their sofas of spice and feathers, the concubines also slept fretfully. In those days the Earth was still flat, and people dreamed often of falling over edges.

Never underestimate how much assistance, how much satisfaction, how much comfort, how much soul and transcendence there might be in a well-made taco and a cold bottle of beer.

You knows dat in New Orleans is not morning 'til dee sun come up.

Birth and death were easy. It was life that was hard.

Death is impatient and thoughtless. It barges into your room when you are right in the middle of something, and it doesn't bother to wipe its boots.

She continued weeping until the heat of her tear water, the sheer velocity of its flow, finally obscured the already vague circumstances of its origins.

salvation is for the feeble, that's what I think. I don't want salvation, I want life, all of life, the miserable as well as the superb.

There is a comfort in conformity, a security in control, that is appealing. There is a thrill in domination, and we are all secretly attracted to violence.

All dreams continue in the beyond.

If you want your tree to produce plenty o' fruit, you've got to cut it back from time to time. Same thing with your neural cells. Some people might call it brain damage. I call it prunin'.

Gods and men create one another, destroy one another, though by different means.

A library, no matter how big or small, is a careful balance of love and responsibility. A machine, if you will, cranked by those who care most about reading.

We always have enough to be happy if we are enjoying what we do have- and not worrying about what we don't have.

To me, mathematics, computer science, and the arts are insanely related. They're all creative expressions.

I would still describe China as a vast, invigorating puzzle that will never make sense to my western upbringing.

Does the real thing ever have the perfection of a stage performance?

What is the use of a new-born child ?

Blessed is he that expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed. expect nothing - get nothing! but expect something - get something!!

In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass.

Don't instantly throw yourself into external demands.

I don't have too much faith in destiny, or an afterlife. This is it.