When you travel often, you will be addicted to it forever.

I had a microscopic eye for the blemish, for the grain of ugliness which to me constituted the sole beauty of the object.

Music is a beautiful opiate, if you don't take it too seriously.

For a metaphysical treat stop at the Big Sur Inn, which is also a haven for stray cats and dogs. Life along the South Coast is just a bed of roses, with a few thorns and nettles interspersed.

To have her here in bed with me, breathing on me, her hair in my mouth—I count that something of a miracle.

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.

After all, most writing is done away from the typewriter, away from the desk. I'd say it occurs in the quiet, silent moments, while you're walking or shaving or playing a game, or whatever, or even talking to someone you're not vitally interested in.