That's always seemed so ridiculous to me, that people would want to be around someone because they're pretty. It's like picking your breakfast cereals based on color instead of taste.

I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.

Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.

The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.

Oh, brothers! I don't care for brothers. My elder brother won't die, and my younger brothers seem never to do anything else.

If a man treats life artistically, his brain is his heart.

What fire does not destroy, it hardens

All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.

Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.

Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.

The basis of optimism is sheer terror.

It's all mirror, mirror on the wall because beauty is power, the same way money is power, the same way a gun is power.

When deeds speak, words are nothing.

The dedication of this book is split seven ways: to Neil, to Jessica, to David, to Kenzie, to Di, to Anne, and to you, if you have stuck with Harry until the very end.

When I was growing up in the '60s I would have thought that westerns would last forever.

Creating fake facts does require a measure of haphazard research, insofar as they need to not just be possible, but also interesting.

The Mekons are the most revolutionary group in the history of rock 'n' roll.

I know life is hard but we can always find hope in music and wash away our tears

The political process consists entirely of politicians talking out of their butts.

O my poor old Harry Jekyll, if ever I read Satan's signature upon a face, it is on that of your new friend.

I have much to teach you. Come and learn the art of war from the one who invented it. (Takeshi)