Somewhere along the line I'd lost the will not to eat.

Perhaps the way to succeed is to think of life on Earth as a colossal joke, a creation of such immense stupidity that the only way to live is to laugh until you think your heart will break.

I don't get nearly enough credit in life for the things I manage not to say.

The imagination can be dangerous. It can change the world. And that is why we write.

Self-knowledge is essential not only to writing, but to doing almost anything really well. It allows you to work through from a deep place - from the deep, dark corners of your subconscious mind.

Osbert was the only one who didn't seem suspicious. He was so interested in the Decline of Western Civilization that he missed the version of it taking place under his nose.

This was what happiness felt like - this wondrous, miraculous alternative to dread.

While working in advertising, I channelled my creative energy into elaborate escape fantasies: cake making, dog breeding, the Peace Corps.

Things Happen and once they start happening you pretty much just to hold on for dear life and see where they drop you when they stop.

If you haven't been in a war and are wondering how long it takes to get used to losing everything you think you need or love, I can tell you the answer is no time at all.

The soldier had stamped my passport FAMILY in heavy black capital letters and I checked it now for reassurance and because I liked how fierce the word looked

When you have discovered your significance, your life will now begin to move towards making a difference.

Memoir is not an act of history but an act of memory, which is innately corrupt.

It is imperative that good people, men and women of principle, be involved in the political process; otherwise we abdicate power to those whose designs are almost entirely selfish.

The slow rejection of the foreign skin grafts fascinated me. How could the host distinguish another person's skin from his own?

The Marine Corps is proud of the fact that it is a force of combined arms, and it jealously guards the integrity of its air-ground team.

All of life is more or less what the French would call s'imposer, to be able to create one's own terms for what one does.

And I guess that's when it starts to hit me: the whole point is, you do what you can.

If you and I have not seen God, we cannot bear witness to God.

I know the coaches definitely trust me and my ability to throw the football.

If guys don't want me to write bad songs about them, they shouldn't do bad things.