Today is such a time, when the project of interpretation is largely reactionary, stifling. Like the fumes of the automobile and of heavy industry which befoul the urban atmosphere, the effusion of interpretations of art today poisons our sensibilities. In a culture whose already classical dilemma is the hypertrophy of the intellect at the expense of energy and sensual capability, interpretation is the revenge of the intellect upon art.

What I really wanted was every kind of life, and the writer’s life seemed the most inclusive.

A good listener: a physical presence that is warm, alert, intelligent - more important than any words.

The painter constructs, the photographer discloses.

Intelligence is not necessarily a good thing, something to value or cultivate. It's more like a fifth wheel - necessary or desirable when things break down. When things go well, it's better to be stupid ... Stupidity is as much a value as intelligence.

The only transformation that interests me is a total transformation - however minute

Taste has no system and no proofs.