To imagine a new world is to live it daily, each thought, each glance, each step, each gesture, killing and recreating, death always a step in advance. To spit on the past is not enough. To proclaim the future is not enough. One must act as if the past were dead and the future unrealizable.

New York has a trip-hammer vitality which drives you insane with restlessness if you have no inner stabilizer.

Until we accept the fact that life itself is founded in mystery, we shall learn nothing.

All my Calvaries were rosy crucifixions, pseudo-tragedies to keep the fires of hell burning brightly for the real sinners who are in danger of being forgotten.

What I want is to open up. I want to know what's inside me. I want everybody to open up. I'm like an imbecile with a can opener in his hand, wondering where to begin-- to open up the earth. I know that underneath the mess everything is marvelous. I'm sure of it.

I'm a bit retarded, like most Americans.

To be joyous is to be a madman in a world of sad ghosts.