“I'm not anyone, I'm just myself; whatever I am, I am something, and now I'm something you can't help.”

“Perhaps I'm not their dead one back, but I'm something almost better to them; an ideal shaped by their minds.”

“What are you up to now?" "I'm sill crazy. The rain feels good. I love to walk in it.”

“I'm a California boy. I don't tell anyone how to write and no one tells me.(Paris Review Interview)”

“I want to feel all there is to feel, he thought. Let me feel tired, now, let me feel tired. I mustn't forget, I'm alive, I know I'm alive, I mustn't forget it tonight or tomorrow or the day after that.”

“I feel alive for the first time in years. I feel I'm doing what I should've done a lifetime ago. For a little while I'm not afraid. Maybe it's because I'm doing the right thing at last. Maybe it's because I've done a rash thing and don't want to look the coward to you. I suppose I'll have to do even more violent things, exposing myself so I won't fall down on the job and turn scared again”

“I've tasted every victual and danced every dance; now there's one last tart I haven't bit on, one time I haven't whistled. but I'm not afraid. I'm truly curious. Death won't get a crumb by my mouth I won't keep and savor. So don't you worry over me. Now, all of you go, and let me find my sleep....”