Time can divorce us from the reality of people, it can separate us from people and turn them into ghosts. Or rather it is we who turn them into ghosts or demons. Some kinds of fruitless preoccupations with the past can create such simulacra, and they can exercise power, like those heroes at Troy fighting for a phantom Helen.

A letter is a barrier, a reprieve, a charm against the world, an almost infallible method of acting at a distance.

Not to have been born is undoubtedly best, but sound sleep is second best.

I am not famous for anything in particular. I am just famous.

Hegel says that Truth is a great word and the thing is greater still. With Dave we never seemed to get past the word.

Philosophy! Empty thinking by ignorant conceited men who think they can digest without eating!

Every artist is an unhappy lover. And unhappy lovers want to tell their story.