The sight of a worm excites my reverence more than all the gods men have invented.

One is never wounded by the love one gives, only by the love one expects.

The slope contains many wonders not found at the summit.

Philosophers console themselves with explanations.

The search for first causes is the ultimate wild goose chase.

When you separate thought from life, you get philosophy.

Logical positivism is philosophy from the neck up.

The questions philosophers ask are not so much meaningless as irrelevant.

No explanation is ever as good as not having one.

The truth is what you live through while you're looking for the truth.

Never confuse a hunger for knowledge with a thirst for truth.

God always exalts the humble.

The world can be a lot bet­ter than we set­tle for. All you have to do is ask.

Fame attracts lunatics.

I remember the very first suit I bought. It was a three-piece denim suit with bell-bottoms.

I live like a Hottentot. I cannot exchange one sensible word with anyone.

In the sense that I also try to reflect the fullness of the black experience, I’m very much a jazz poet.

Marriage must cease to be a matter of arrangement made by parents for money.

Metafiction says something. It has to do with taking a large fiction itself and writing within it; that kind of self-reflecting writing that emerges from it can be thought of as metafictional.

An artist's saddest secrets are those that have to do with his artistry.