The purpose and function of government is not to preside over change but to prevent change. By political methods when unavoidable, by violence when convenient.

The consolation of reading biography: Most great men have led lives even more miserable than our own.

Music is a savage art, a measured madness.

In the modern technoindustrial culture, it is possible to proceed from infancy into senility without ever knowing manhood.

Humility is a virtue when you have no other.

Music begins where words leave off. Music expresses the inexpressible. If there is a Kingdom of Heaven, it lies in music.

There is a wine called Easy Days and Mellow Nights, well-known on the outskirts of the Navajo reservation. It is an economical wine, fortified with the best of intentions, and I recommend it to every serious wino.