Past, present and future are not amenities of language. Time unfolds into the seamsof being. It passes through you, making and shaping.

I like the construction of sentences and the juxtaposition of words-not just how they sound or what they mean, but even what they look like.

I think more than writers, the major influences on me have been European movies, jazz, and Abstract Expressionism.

We seem to believe it is possible to ward off death by following rules of good grooming.

As technology advances in complexity and scope, fear becomes more primitive.

No sense of the irony of human experience, that we are the highest form of life on earth, and yet ineffably sad because we know what no other animal knows, that we must die.

I've come to think of Europe as a hardcover book, America as the paperback version.

I don’t want your candor. I want your soul in a silver thimble.

What we are reluctant to touch often seems the very fabric of our salvation.

California deserves whatever it gets. Californians invented the concept of life-style. This alone warrants their doom.

A writer takes earnest measures to secure his solitude and then finds endless ways to squander it.

Who are you and how did you get in here?" "I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.

It always gives me a shiver when I see a cat seeing what I can't see.

Maybe we all just wanted someone to believe in. That's all each of us wanted, and it should be so simple, but it never was simple.

For all that we cherish and justly desire - for ourselves or for our children - the securing of peace is the first requisite.

If I plug my estimates into the Magic Formula, and it comes out cheap, that's good.

Women should have the freedom to do whatever they need to do to feel good about themselves.

Don't worry kids, you'll find work. After all, my machine will need strong chess player-programmers. You will be the first.

I turned to human suffering because - this may sound odd - animal suffering is more difficult for me to deal with.

You get to a point where it's like you can't really do anything right, and people will pick on you for whatever decisions you make, so I just try and take no notice and get on with my music.

The sky is darkening like a stain Something is going to fall like rain And it won't be flowers