“That was the deal basically: catatonia without; frenzy within”

“Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretence.”

“Her basic disposition was a good deal sunnier than mine. But I was a better faker.”

“All phenomena are embraced within a single self-knowing awareness.Even though they arise as the totality of samsara and nirvana,the phenomena of the world of appearances and possibilities—limitless, boundless—arise from basic space.Therefore, they are subsumed within basic space from which the first arise.”

“If you write fiction you are, in a sense, corrupted. There's a tremendous corruptibility for the fiction writer because you're dealing mainly with sex and violence. These remain the basic themes, they're the basic themes of Shakespeare whether you like it or not.”

“...because on some basic, soul-deep level within me, he is the solid ground beneath my feet.”