“To some of us, the wresting of beauty out of language is the only thing in the world that matters.”

“The great thing about human language is that it prevents us from sticking to the matter at hand.”

“Everything, no matter how beautiful, is only with us for awhile.”

“The world does not speak. Only we do. The world can, once we have programmed ourselves with a language, cause us to hold beliefs. But it cannot propose a language for us to speak. Only other human beings can do that. ”

“Some of the things are the same no matter which world you're in, kid. One of 'em is this: The quickest way out of something is usually straight through it.”

“I wonder if it matters that what they have aimed at is illusion. Their lives are in themselves beautiful. I have an idea that the only thing which makes it possible to regard this world we live in without disgust is the beauty which now and then men create out of the chaos. The pictures they paint, the music they compose, the books they write, and the lives they lead. Of all these the richest in beauty is the beautiful life. That is the perfect work of art.”