That's metaphysics, my dear fellow. It's forbidden me by my doctor, my stomach won't take it.

In this era of world wars, in this atomic age, values have changed. We have learned that we are guests of existence, travelers between two stations. We must discover security within ourselves.

How wonderful to be alive, he thought. But why does it always hurt?

It is no longer possible for lyric poetry to express the immensity of our experience. Life has grown too cumbersome, too complicated. We have acquired values which are best expressed in prose.

I used to be very revolutionary, but now I think that nothing can be gained by brute force. People must be drawn to good by goodness.

A conscious attempt to fall asleep is sure to produce insomnia, to try to be conscious of one's own digestion is a sure way to upset the stomach. Consciousness is a poison when we apply it to ourselves. Consciousness is a light directed outward. it's like the headlights on a locomotive—turn them inward and you'd have a crash.

In every generation there has to be some fool who will speak the truth as he sees it.