pulled into my convenient neighborhood fast food restaurant. I ordered shrimp salad, onion rings, and a beer. The shrimp were straight out of the freezer, the onion rings soggy. Looking around the place, though, I failed to spot a single customer banging on a tray or complaining to a waitress. So I shut up and finished my food. Expect nothing, get nothing.

It's just like sex; when [a book is] finished, it's finished.

Tell me, Doctor, are you afraid of death?" "I guess it depends on how you die.

The better you were able to imagine what you wanted to imagine, the farther you could flee from reality.

I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. But it was not until much later that I was able to get any real sleep. In a place far away from anyone or anywhere, I drifted off for a moment.

It's not right for one friend to do all the giving and the other to do all the taking: that's not real friendship.

I collect records. And cats. I don't have any cats right now. But if I'm taking a walk and I see a cat, I'm happy.