The man who was once starved may revenge himself upon the world not by stealing just once, or by stealing only what he needs, but by taking from the world an endless toll in payment of something irreplaceable, which is the lost faith.

jazz is the expression of America's romantic self, its sensual potency, its lyrical force.

I want to be a writer who reminds others that these moments exist; I want to prove that there is infinite space, infinite meaning, infinite dimension

Everything with me is either worship and passion or pity and understanding. I hate rarely, though when I hate. I hate murderously.

My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living.

To write at the same temperature at which I live I should write nothing but poetry.

The leaf fall of his words, the stained glass hues of his moods, the rust in his voice, the smoke in his mouth, his breath on my vision like human breath blinding a mirror.