He had come so far from himself that I don't think he knew who he was anymore.

My first feeling was a wild desire to drive a stake in the sand and claim the place for myself. The beach was white as salt, and cut off from the world by a ring of steep hills that faced the sea. We were on the edge of a large bay and the water was that clear, turquoise color that you get with a white sand bottom. I had never seen such a place. I wanted to take off all my clothes and never wear them again.

You won't find reasonable men on the tops of tall mountains.

It is not necessary to accept the choices handed down to you by life as you know it.

I got tired and embarrassed by the constant poverty of those years. I told Doug [ Brinkley] this is really going to be a horrible downer of a book [The Proud Highway] if all it's going to be is about being broke. I didn't like being reminded of desperation at all times.

On some days you get what you want, and on others, you get what you need.

I don't see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness.