“You must love no-thingness,You must flee something,You must remain alone,And go to nobody.You must be very activeAnd free of all things.You must deliver the captivesAnd force those who are free.You must comfort the sickAnd yet have nothing yourself.You must drink the water of sufferingAnd light the fire of Love with the wood of the virtues.Thus you live in the true desert.”

“There is no goal, nowhere to get to, nothing to achieve.All that you seek, no matter how great or small, is merely entertainment, diversion, or exercise along the way. It is of no consequence. Yet you must do it. That is the secret. You must do your work, you must help others, you must grow your plants, and you must write.You must do all those things, and yet those things will lead you no place that you are not right now.”

“You must be filled with expectancy. You must be awash in hope. You must wonder who will love you, whom you will love next.”

“Never lie, steal, cheat, or drink. But if you must lie, lie in the arms of the one you love. If you must steal, steal away from bad company. If you must cheat, cheat death. And if you must drink, drink in the moments that take your breath away”

“But there are some things, child, that you should steal. That you must steal, if you have enough love and courage in your heart. You must snatch freedom from the hands of the tyrant. You must spirit away innocent lives before they are destroyed. You must hide secret and sacred places.”

“There are some things with alcohol you must never do. You must never drink alone, never drink on Sundays, never drink before seven o'clock and if you do, it has to be on a Saturday.”