Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is.

Our government's got a war on drugs. That's certainly better than no drugs at all.

All of the true things I am about to tell you are shameless lies.

In real life as in grand opera, arias only make hopeless situations worse.

Thank God for novelists. Thank God there are people willing to write everything down. Otherwise, so much would be forgotten.

We're a terribly lonesome society. For all I know, all societies are. You can make a few new friends, that's all. You can't change history. History is happening to us now.

If you want to really hurt you parents, and you don't have the nerve to be gay, the least you can do is go into the arts. I'm not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possible can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.