I saw how greatly he suffered the requirement of being clever. It separated him from his soul, and it didn't get him anything other than a living

Really the best way to learn about something is simply to read it and not make a scientific theory of interpretation.

He felt as if he were paying for the privilege of music with portions of his life and body. But it was well worth it.

Perhaps passing through the gates of death is like passing quietly through the gate in a pasture fence. On the other side, you keep walking, without the need to look back. No shock, no drama, just the lifting of a plank or two in a simple wooden gate in a clearing. Neither pain, nor floods of light, nor great voices, but just the silent crossing of a meadow.

...to be paid for one's joy is to steal.

I have been fighting over commas all my life.

No one ever said that you would live to see the repercussions of everything you do, or that you have guarantees, or that you are not obliged to wander in the dark, or that everything will be proved to you and neatly verified like something in science. Nothing is: at least nothing that is worthwhile.