Well, if it's a symbol, to hell with it.

You will have found Christ when you are concerned with other people’s sufferings and not your own.

You shall know the truth, and it will make you odd.

The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.

Right now the whole world seems to be going through a dark night of the soul.

Whenever I’m asked why Southern writers particularly have a penchant for writing about freaks, I say it is because we are still able to recognize one.

...you have to cherish the world at the same time that you struggle to endure it.

What people don’t realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross.

[To] know oneself is, above all, to know what one lacks. It is to measure oneself against Truth, and not the other way around. The first product of self-knowledge is humility . . .

It is the business of the artist to uncover the strangeness of truth

I don't deserve any credit for turning the other cheek as my tongue is always in it.

Divinity encompasses all life forms.

I cannot place the luxury of thought towards tomorrow as I am consumed by living for today.

I'm as lucky as a bed of oysters on cioppino night.

Every problem has one immediate cause, many remote causes, long term and short term effects

I stared at her black hair. It was shiny like the promises in magazines.

I never aspired to be anything. What I've done is beyond my wildest.

The hours of your life are the most valuable currency you will ever have. How will you spend them?

When I sing or play music, I'm able to relieve myself of whatever it is that I'm struggling with.

I think that any person who is commenting on public affairs is entitled to point out those dangers.

If wisdom were offered me with the proviso that I should keep it shut up and refrain from declaring it, I should refuse. There's no delight in owning anything unshared.