one forgives parents as naturally as one emancipates oneself from them - usually shortly afterward.

Only friends will tell you the truths you need to hear to make your life bearable.

I venture that those of us who are most serene when faced with the possibility of nothingness are the ones who've reached furthest to the downward and upward of their beings.

The vast Pacific ocean would always remain the islanders' great solace, escape and nourishment, the amniotic fluid that would keep them hedonistic and aloof, guarded, gentle and mysterious.

Why are there no great women artists?' sounds as ignorant of human geography as the query 'Why are there no Eskimo tennis teams?

The irreversibility of time. That's the hardest thing to accept at our age, that's the most violent aspect of death.

I shall never cease to marvel at the way we beg for love and tyranny.