One should never write down or up to people, but out of yourself.

Horror is always aware of its cause; terror never is. That is precisely what makes terror terrifying.

I am alive, he says to himself, I am alive! And life energy surges hotly through him, and delight, and appetite. How good to be in a body - even this old beat-up carcass - that still has warm blood and live semen and rich marrow and wholesome flesh!

California is a tragic country - like Palestine, like every Promised Land.

The sea only drowns its lovers.

Life is not so bad if you have plenty of luck, a good physique, and not too much imagination.

The more I think about myself, the more I'm persuaded that, as a person, I really don't exist. That is one of the reasons why I can't believe in any orthodox religion: I cannot believe in my own soul. No, I am a chemical compound, conditioned by environment and education. My "character" is simply a repertoire of acquired tricks, my conversation a repertoire of adaptations and echoes, my "feelings" are dictated by purely physical, external stimuli.