Emptiness and boredom: what a complete understatement. What I felt was complete desolation. Desolation, despair and boredom.

Every window in Alcatraz has a view of San Francisco.

You have to have a somewhat cold heart to be a writer.

The only way to stay sane is to go a little crazy.

I think many people kill themselves simply to stop the debate about whether they will or they won't.

The girl at her music sits in another sort of light,the fitful,overcast light of lie,by which we see ourselves and others only imprefectly, and seldom..-Girl,Interrupted

This clarity made me able to behave normally, which posed some interesting questions. Was everybody seeing this stuff and acting as though they weren't? Was insanity just a matter of dropping the act? If some people didn't see these things, what was the matter with them? Were they blind or something? These questions had me unsettled.