“It's great to be anywhere as a writer. It saves you from implication in the ugliness of the place and justifies your being there. You can spend all day jerking off as long as you describe it well.”

“If you are a writer, or want to be a writer, this is how you spend your days--listening, observing, storing things away, making your isolation pay off. You take home all you've taken in, all that you've overheard, and you turn it into gold. (Or at least you try.)”

“The main problem with this great obsession for saving time is very simple: you can't save time. You can only spend it. But you can spend it wisely or foolishly.”

“Where does one go from the bottom? You hit the bottom of the well and what? People say the only place to go is up, but they seem to ignore how long you can spend wallowing in the muck at the bottom of the well.”

“The Great ThingAbout long-time, all-time friendsis, no matter how many hours (days, weeks, months, and, I assume,years) you spend in differnt places, when you're finally in the same room again, it's like you've never lefteach other's side. And you realize that your hearts have neverdisconnected”

“No one can pull anyone back from anywhere. You save yourself or you remain unsaved.”