The trail of lime trees outside our building is still a public loo. …where else are they supposed to go to the toilet in a city where public toilets are about as common as UFO sightings?” (pp.281-82)

It is a bitter-sweet thing, knowing two cultures. Once you leave your birthplace nothing is ever the same.

Feelings are the language of the heart. Everything else is static noise.

Every spark returns to darkness. Every sound returns to silence. Every flower returns to sleep with the earth. The journey of the sun and moon is predictable. But yours, is your ultimateart.

I don't even have a dog. I tell people I'm allergic so they won't think less of me. Instead I have a cat, the pet that ranks just above a throw pillow in terms of responsibility required.

When you look at the stars and the galaxy, you feel that you are not just from any particular piece of land, but from the solar system.

I call myself a blues singer, but you ain't never heard me call myself a blues guitar man.

With a keen eye for details, one truth prevails!

I bought a book of Mark Twain quotes. That's about my speed. I'll read a couple quotes and put it down.

Human beings are endowed by nature with both selfish and unselfish impulses.

I started to write [The Name of the Rose] in March of 1978, moved by a seminal idea. I wanted to poison a monk.

You read best what you read most.