When riding my old Harley a ninety per at midnight down the Via Roma in Naples, I kept one consolation firmly in mind: If anything goes wrong, I'll never have time to regret it.

I love America because it is a confused, chaotic mess - and I hope we can keep it this way for at least another thousand years. The permissive society is the free society.

Reincarnation? There is such a thing. What could be more Mozartian than the Nutcracker Suite?

Women who love only women may have a good point.

I am pleased enough with the surfaces - in fact they alone seem to me to be of much importance. Such things for example as the grasp of a child's hand in your own, the flavor of an apple, the embrace of a friend or lover, the silk of a girl's thigh, the sunlight on the rock and leaves, the feel of music, the bark of a tree, the abrasion of granite and sand, the plunge of clear water into a pool, the face of the wind - what else is there? What else do we need?

Only a fool would leave the enjoyment of rainbows to the opticians. Or give the science of optics the last word on the matter.

There are two kinds of people I cannot abide: bigots and any well-organized ethnic group.