Celebrity is a mask that eats into the face.

Celebrity is a mask that eats into the face.

John Updike

Mozart's music gives us permission to live.

Mozart's music gives us permission to live.

The inner spaces that a good story lets us enter are the old apartments of religion.

The inner spaces that a good story lets us enter are the old apartments of religion.

We are cruel enough without meaning to be.

We are cruel enough without meaning to be.

I think books should have secrets, like people do.

I think books should have secrets, like people do.

Religion enables us to ignore nothingness and get on with the jobs of life.

Religion enables us to ignore nothingness and get on with the jobs of life.

A healthy male adult bore consumes each year one and a half times his own weight in other people's patience.

A healthy male adult bore consumes each year one and a half times his own weight in other people's patience.

The heart prefers to move against the grain of circumstance; perversity is the souls very life.

The heart prefers to move against the grain of circumstance; perversity is the souls very life.

Being naked approaches being revolutionary; going barefoot is mere populism.

Being naked approaches being revolutionary; going barefoot is mere populism.

The days are short, The sun a spark Hung thin between The dark and dark.

The days are short, The sun a spark Hung thin between The dark and dark.

America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy.

America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy.

Writing and rewriting are a constant search for what it is one is saying.

Writing and rewriting are a constant search for what it is one is saying.

The essential self is innocent, and when it tastes its own innocence knows that it lives for ever.

The essential self is innocent, and when it tastes its own innocence knows that it lives for ever.

Chaos is God's body. Order is the Devil's chains.

Chaos is God's body. Order is the Devil's chains.

Do what the heart commands. The heart is our only guide.

Do what the heart commands. The heart is our only guide.

We are most alive when we're in love.

We are most alive when we're in love.

Our lives fade behind us before we die.

Our lives fade behind us before we die.

If you have the guts to be yourself, other people'll pay your price.

If you have the guts to be yourself, other people'll pay your price.

It's great to have an enemy. Sharpens your senses.

It's great to have an enemy. Sharpens your senses.