I think it's a mistake to ever look for hope outside of one's self.

I came out of a culture in which my uncle, my father - they were all salesmen of one kind or another. My father was a manufacturer. He also, in effect, had to sell that stuff. And if he didn't literally do it, his men did. So, selling was in the air through my boyhood. The whole idea of successfully selling was very important.

It is rare for people to be asked the question which puts them squarely in front of themselves

When the guns roar, the arts die.

I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been.

After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive.

...an everlasting funeral marches round your heart.