[Someone] said that what I described as the Buddhist voice - the life-denying voice of censure and guilt - sounded to him very much like a Catholic voice. This is, indeed, a mystery, and it intrigues me, too.

On the other hand, the seventies were drab. That is, I am utterly fascinated by the fifties and sixties.

I really think [William] Burroughs was onto something here, when he said, "Dreams are a biologic necessity and your lifeline into space."

To me the seventies represent normality, and, of course, it is a normality that is now anachronistic.

There's a strong aspect of Buddhism which is geared towards ending all fertility.

My favourite tea is lapsang souchong.

We're all more or less interested in the 'swinging sixties', of course, but that's not what I mean. I'm interested in the particular naive glamour that clings to the post-war and pre-Hendrix era.