...of all things this was the saddest, that life goes on: if one leaves one's lover, life should stop for him, and if one disappears from the world, then the world should stop, too: and it never did. And that was the real reason for most people getting up in the morning: not because it would matter but because it wouldn't.

A work of art is one of mystery, the one extreme magic; everything else is either arithmetic or biology.

It's a scientific fact that if you stay in California you lose one point of your IQ every year.

Time. Time. What is time? Swiss manufacture it, French hoard it, Italians squander it, Americans say it is money. Hindus say it does not exist. Know what I say? I say time is a crook.

Are there any writers on the literary scene whom I consider truly great? Yes: Truman Capote.

Half the people who snuff people, that's what they want: recognition. Get their picture in the paper.

Personally, I rather think that if you're not creative you've got a problem on your hands. If you are creative you've got a double problem.