For all the insularity of the old guard, Pittsburgh was always an open and democratic town.

We are here on the planet only once, and might as well get a feel for the place.

There is no whit less enlightenment under the tree by your street than there was under the Buddha's bo tree. I invite you to go sit under that tree by your street.

Self-consciousness is the curse of the city and all that sophistication implies.

Our life seems cursed to be a wiggle merely, and a wandering without end.

Caring passionately about something isn't against nature, and it isn't against human nature. It's what we're here to do.

There is always the temptation in life to diddle around making itsy-bitsy friends and meals and journeys for years on end. It is all so self conscience, so apparently moral...But I won't have it. The world is wilder than that in all directions, more dangerous...more extravagant and bright. We are...raising tomatoes when we should be raising Cain, or Lazarus.