“a good bookcan make an almostimpossibleexistence,liveable( from 'the luck of the word' )”

“There's nothing to stop a man from writing unless that manstops himself. If a man truly desires to write, then he will.Rejection and ridicule will only strengthen him. And the longerhe is held back the stronger he will become, like a mass of risingwater against a dam. There is no losing in writing, it will make your toes laughas you sleep, it will make you stride like a tiger, it will firethe eye and put you face to face with death. You will die a fighter, you will be honored in hell. The luck of the word. Go with it, send it.”

“we drove on and on,past little villages and both good things andbad things were happening to thepeople in those villages too,but I still was nothingbut arms and ears and eyes and maybe there'd beeither some good luck for me ormore death tomorrow.”

“Bad taste makes more millionaires than good taste.”

“It was a joy! Words weren't dull, words were things that could make your mind hum. If you read them and let yourself feel the magic, you could live without pain, with hope, no matter what happened to you.”

“Food is good for the nerves and the spirit. Courage comes from the belly – all else is desperation.”

“and when love came to us twice and lied to us twice we decided to never love again that was fair fair to us and fair to love itself. we ask for no mercy or no miracles; we are strong enough to live and to die and to kill flies, attend the boxing matches, go to the racetrack, live on luck and skill, get alone, get alone often, and if you can't sleep alone be careful of the words you speak in your sleep; and ask for no mercy no miracles; and don't forget: time is meant to be wasted, love failsand death is useless.”