To an artist a metaphor is as real as a dollar.
I rather like the smell of absurdity in the morning.
A lot of my work comes from what in Asia is called the ‘mind of wonder.’ There is not a lot of ‘mind of wonder’ writing in contemporary Western literature. I think that’s what appeals to the readers who are my fans.
Self-esteem is for sissies. Accept that you’re a pimple and try to keep a lively sense of humor about it. That way lies grace – and maybe even glory.
The only question is how to make love stay.
The most useful thing about art is it’s uselessness.
Normality is the Great Neurosis of civilization.
We are seldom as limited as we think we are.
It’s personal freedom, not hundred dollar bills that lights the soul’s cigar.
Never be afraid to love, not even when there’s a chance you’re not being loved in return.
You are an ignorant schoolgirl. You think civilization is a good thing.
Western civilization was declining too fast for comfort, but too slowly to be very exciting.
I mean that gods do not limit men. Men limit men.
The Earth is God’s pinball machine and each quake, tidal wave, flash flood and volcanic eruption is the result of a TILT that occurs when God, cheating, tries to win free games.
One of my books is a hallucinogen, an aphrodisiac, a mood elevator, an intellectual garage door opener, and a metaphysical trash compactor. They’ll do everything except rotate your tires.
And who ever said the world was fair, little lady? Maybe death is fair, but certainly not life. We must accept the unfairness as proof of the sublime flux of existence, the capricious music of the universe- and go on about our tasks.
People aren’t trees, so it is false when they speak of roots.
There are people in this world who can wear whale masks and people who cannot, and the wise know to which group they belong.
The gods have chosen to entertain me with chronic eyestrain headaches. Very poisonous episodes. So I don’t do a lot of reading anymore except on tape.
One tended to lose one’s bearings in the presence of willful and persistent acts of craziness, and the more gentle the act, the crazier it seemed, as if rage and violence, being closer to the norm, were easier to accommodate.