Why can't we simply borrow what is useful to us from Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, especially Zen, as we borrow from Christianity, science, American Indian traditions and world literature in general, including philosophy, and let the rest go hang? Borrow what we need but rely principally upon our own senses, common sense and daily living experience.

A world without open country would be universal jail.

The gurus come from the sickliest nation on earth to tell us how to live. And we pay them for it.

Guns don't kill people; people kill people. Of course, people with guns kill more people. But that's only natural. It's hard. But it's fair.

The ideal kitchen-sink novel: Throw in everything but the kitchen sink. Then add the kitchen sink.

But it is a writer's duty to write and speak and record the truth, always the truth, no matter whom may be offended.

The tragic sense of life: our heroic acceptance of the suffering of others.