Masturbation is nothing to be ashamed of. It's nothing to be particularly proud of, either.

If at first you don't succeed - give it up. It isn't worth the pain.

I was always frightened by taverns. They just seemed like very unpleasant places to go.

I judge my life by how miserable it used to be. If I could pay my rent, I was deliriously happy. Now I'm deliriously happy all the time.

I'm better than dirt. Well, most kinds of dirt, not that fancy store-bought dirt... I can't compete with that stuff.

The amazing thing about Freak Out! was that there was nothing quite like it in rock 'n roll at the time. It was really simultaneously crude and ugly, and incredibly sophisticated. The Beatles were funny, but there was nothing with the kind of sneer that you could feel in the music of Frank Zappa.

I would prefer to listen to a French classical composer like Olivier Messiaen than to the pop hits of the day.