“The earth was all before me. With a heartJoyous, nor scared at its own liberty,I look about; and should the chosen guideBe nothing better than a wandering cloud,I cannot miss my way.”

“We are told that "the meek shall inherit the earth." It follows that the meek are chosen of God. I shall try to be meek, not because I want the earth - you can keep it, after the way you've fucked it around it's not worth having - but because I too should like to be chosen of God. QED. Besides, I like animals better than you bastards.”

“My husband is my most ruthless critic... sometimes he will say, 'It's been said better before.' Of course it has. It's all been said better before. If I thought I had to say it better than anybody else, I'd never start. Better or worse is immaterial. The thing is that it has to be said; by me; ontologically. We each have to say it, to say it our own way. Not of our own will, but as it comes out through us. Good or bad, great or little: that isn't what human creation is about. It is that we have to try; to put it down in pigment, or words, or musical notations, or we die.”

“I cannot be awake, for nothing looks to me as it did before, or else I am awake for the first time, and all before has been a mean sleep.”

“And see those clouds?''Hard to miss''Those are cumulus clouds. Did you know that?''I'm sure I should.'They're the best ones.''How come?'Because they look the way clouds are supposed to look, the way you draw them when you're a kid. Which is nice, you know? ...”

“She made me feel better than I have ever felt, better than I imagined I could feel, and it scared me, it scared me to the point of paralysis.”