If you do anything out of the ordinary, you can be sure someone, somewhere, will get upset.

A friend to kill time is a friend sublime.

The thoughts that occur to me while I’m running are like clouds in the sky. Clouds of all different sizes. They come and they go, while the sky remains the same sky always. The clouds are mere guests in the sky that pass away and vanish, leaving behind the sky.

When a writer develops a story, he is confronted with a poison that is inside him. If you don't have that poison, your story will be boring and uninspired. It's like fugu: The flesh of the pufferfish is extremely tasty, but the roe, the liver, the heart can be lethally toxic.

Whenever I write a novel, music just sort of naturally slips in (much like cats do, I suppose).

Better to be a first-class matchbox than a second-class match.

I had my jazz club and I had enough money. So I didn't have to write for my living.