This is not a book in the ordinary sense of the word. No, this is a prolonged insult, a gob of spit in the face of art, a kick in the pants to God, Man, Destiny, Time, Love, Beauty... what you will.

That we cannot rise equal to situations when we are in them — that is the tragedy of life.

The concert is a polite form of self induced torture.

It is with the soul that we grasp the essence of another human being, not with the mind, nor even with the heart.

The blind lead the blind. It's the democratic way.

The word which gives the key to the national vice is waste. And people who are wasteful are not wise, neither can they remain young and vigorous. In order to transmute energy to higher and more subtle levels one must first conserve it.

I soon found out you can't change the world. The best you can do is to learn to live with it.