Always compare yourself to the best. Even if you never measure up, it can't help but make you better.

Writing a novel is not so much a project as a journey, a voyage, an adventure.

There is little difference between the Zulu warrior who smeared bis body with lion's fat and the modern woman who dabs hers with expensive perfume. The one was trying to acquire the courage of the king of beasts, the other is attempting to acquire the irresistible sexuality of flowers. The underlying principle is the same.

Don't trust anybody who'd rather be grammatically correct than have a good time.

Often, moreover, it is...that aspect of our being that society finds eccentric, ridiculous, or disagreeable, that holds our sweet waters, our secret well of happiness, the key to our equanimity in malevolent climes.

The party in Alobar’s head, which agitation and anxiety were throwing, now was crashed by a notion: existence can be rearranged.

Breathe properly. Stay curious. And eat your beets.