I think of my life as a kind of music, not always good music but still having form and melody.

A creative person has to be alive. He can't borrow from things he's done in the past. He can't let his method choose his subjects or his characters. They can't be warped to fit his style.

But most important of all, the truth, that dangerous stuff, became beautiful and more precious.

What do I want in a doctor? Perhaps more than anything else-a friend with special knowledge.

These too are of a burning color--not orange, not gold, but if pure gold were liquid and could raise a cream, that golden cream might be like the color of the poppies.

You've seen the sun flatten and take strange shapes just before it sinks in the ocean. Do you have to tell yourself every time that it's an illusion caused by atmospheric dust and light distorted by the sea, or do you simply enjoy the beauty of it?

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.