...is the carbon molecule lined with thought?

I pretended not to understand. One of life's hardest jobs, to make a quick understanding slow. I think I succeeded, thought Herzog.

A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.

In an age of madness, to expect to be untouched by madness is a form of madness. But the pursuit of sanity can be a form of madness, too

The spirit knows that its growth is the real aim of existence.

There are times when the most practical thing is to lie down.

With a novelist, like a surgeon, you have to get a feeling that you've fallen into good hands - someone from whom you can accept the anesthetic with confidence.