“In the life of the individual, an aesthetic sensibility is both more authentic and more commendable than a political or religious one.”

“Can I drink more than one mai tai without taking on the aroma of an aroused butterly?”

“For the ethical, political activism was seductive because it seemed to offer the possibility that one could improve society, make things better, without going through the personal ordeal of rearranging one's perceptions and transforming one's self. For the unconscionable, political reactivism was seductive because it seemed to protect one's holdings and legitimize one's greed. But both sides were gazing through a kerchief of illusion.”

“It is more important to be free than to be happy.”

“A book no more contains reality than a clock contains time. A book may measure so-called reality as a clock measures so-called time; a book may create an illusion of reality as a clock creates an illusion of time; a book may be real, just as a clock is real (both more real, perhaps, than those ideas to which they allude); but let's not kid ourselves - all a clock contains is wheels and springs and all a book contains is sentences.”

“There have been cans of dog food more splendiferous than South Richmond. Land mines more tender.”

“It's more important to be free than to be happy.”