Truth be told, John said, the one thing in this world I want more than anything else is a great big crowbar, to jimmy myself open and take whatever creature that's sitting inside and shake it clean like a rug and then rinse it in a cold, clear lake like up in Oregon, and then I want to put it under the sun to let it heal and dry and grow and sit and come to consciousness again with a clear and quiet mind.

Here's my theory about meetings and life: the three things you can't fake are erections, competence and creativity.

When future archaeologists dig up the remains of California, they're going to find all of those gyms their scary-looking gym equipment, and they're going to assume that we were a culture obsessed with torture.

Salad bars are like a restaurant's lungs. They soak up the impurities and bacteria in the environment, leaving you with much cleaner air to enjoy.

Why do most of us make such boring choices for the stories of our lives?

The modern world is devoted to vanishing species, vanishing weather and vanishing capacity for wonder.

It's just amazing how hard it is for people to change, even when amazing things happen. It almost reinforces who you are instead of making you change.