“All human beings should try to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why.”

“Taking a single letter from the alphaber," he said, "should make life simpler.""I don't see why. Take the F from life and you have lie. It's adding a letter to simple that makes it simpler. Taking a letter from hoarder makes it harder.”

“There is something about a poet which leads us to believe that he died, in many cases, as long as 20 years before his birth.”

“We all have faults, mine is being wicked.”

“But what is all this fear of and opposition to Oblivion? What is the matter with the soft Darkness, the Dreamless Sleep?”

“I used to wake up at 4 A.M. and start sneezing, sometimes for five hours. I tried to find out what sort of allergy I had but finally came to the conclusion that it must be an allergy to consciousness.”

“Art – the one achievement of man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised”