The slaves were simply turned loose without any property. They were easily recognizable. They were black. They were suddenly free to go exploring.

And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep.

If somebody says, "I love you," to me, I feel as though I had a pistol pointed at my head. What can anybody reply under such conditions but that which the pistol-holder requires? "I love you, too."

A lack of seriousness has led to all sorts of wonderful insights.

If a person survives an ordinary span of sixty years or more, there is every chance that his or her life as a shapely story has ended and all that remains to be experienced is epilogue. Life is not over, but the story is.

Mark Twain was so good with crowds that he became, in competition with singers and dancers and actors and acrobats, one of the most popular performers of his time. It is so unusual, and so psychologically unlikely, too, for a great writer to be a great performer, too.

Here was what Kilgore Trout cried out to me in my father's voice: "Make me young, make me young, make me young!