Reading . . . is an activity subsequent to writing: more resigned, more civil, more intellectual.

So plant your own gardens and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

Being with you and not being with you is the only way I have to measure time.

Don't talk unless you can improve the silence.

I am not sure that I exist, actually. I am all the writers that I have read, all the people that I have met, all the women that I have loved; all the cities I have visited.

I cannot sleep unless I am surrounded by books.

The worst labyrinth is not that intricate form that can entrap us forever, but a single and precise straight line

The fact is that poetry is not the books in the library . . . Poetry is the encounter of the reader with the book, the discovery of the book.

Nothing is built on stone; all is built on sand, but we must build as if the sand were stone.

I can give you my loneliness, my darkness, the hunger of my heart, I am trying to bribe you with uncertainty, with danger, with defeat.

The original is unfaithful to the translation.

She knew enough to recognize that memories were crowding in, and there was nothing he could do. They wouldn’t let him speak. She would never know what scenes were driving that turmoil.

We are the masters of our reality.

There is nothing more uncommon than common sense.

You won't find your soul in a textbook, self-help book, or buy it in a store. Sometimes, it's just a matter of looking past the anger, regret, and envy to see its smiling face.

You are a mirror of yourself in others. Whatever you want, give. Be the best reflection of yourself.

Mental slavery is worst than physical slavery

Illusions only control you when you think they are real.

I believe I could commit a crime. We all can. It depends on which situations we find ourselves in. In despair, I would steal food if my children were hungry.

This is what you should do, let it rest. I'm playing football for LSU. I'm preparing for R-Kansas. I'm preparing for the next game, and the next game after that.

I have always made impresarios a lot of money across my career and have never, so far as I am aware, given any of them heart attacks.