My special situation was that I was the son and grandson of architects. And so I saw building. We were building the city, and that was exciting.

Music is, to me, proof of the existence of God. It is so extraordinarily full of magic, and in tough times of my life I can listen to music and it makes such a difference.

I'm not a drug salesman. I'm a writer." "What makes you think a writer isn't a drug salesman?

The bounties of space, of infinite outwardness, were three: empty heroics, low comedy, and pointless death.

There is nothing left of him but curiosity and a pair of eyes.

Where men had once howled and hacked at one another, and fought nip-and-tuck with nature as well, the machines hummed and whirred and clicked, and made parts for baby carriages and bottle caps, motorcycles and refrigerators, television sets and tricycles-the fruits of peace.

When a man becomes a writer, I think he takes on a sacred obligation to produce beauty and enlighenment and comfort at top speed