Patterned after an Italian Renaissance palace, it is 88 times as large and one millionth as valuable to the continuation of man. that Pentagon of traveling salesmen.

Writing books is the closest men ever come to childbearing.

A modern democracy is a tyranny whose borders are undefined; one discovers how far one can go only by traveling in a straight line until one is stopped.

The function of socialism is to raise suffering to a higher level.

Khomeini has offered us the opportunity to regain our frail religion ... faith in the power of words.

There was that law of life, so cruel and so just, that one must grow or else pay more for remaining the same.

Any war that requires the suspension of reason as a necessity for support is a bad war.

America is a hurricane, and the only people who do not hear the sound are those fortunate if incredibly stupid and smug White Protestants who live in the center, in the serene eye of the big wind.

I was thinking that surgeons had to be the happiest people on earth. To cut people up and get paid for it-that's happiness, I told myself.

Love asks us that we be a little braver than is comfortable, a little more generous, a little more flexible. It means living on the edge more than we care to.

Reaching consensus in a group is often confused with finding the right answer.

The charm of your society, my Sparrow, lies in not knowing what you will say next – though one rapidly learns to expect the worst!

I realised that one might love him secretly with no hope of encouragement, which can be very enjoyable for the young or inexperienced.

I write every day for two hours. But it's what I do for the other twenty-two hours that allows me to write.

See, decide, attack, reverse.

Never abandon your dreams. You may regret it for the rest of your life.

Music and fashion really do go hand in hand. This is even going back to the reggae days.

I have to find work wherever it might be hiding.

Life is very difficult and we owe it to our fellow human beings to be as cheerful as we can.

Writers are lampposts and critics are dogs. Ask lampposts what they think about dogs. Does the dog hurt the lamppost?

I still play but for some reason, I am having so much fun playing guitar and singing that I don't really miss it because I've done it for so long like twenty-something years with Motley.