It's a joke to think that anyone is one thing. We're all such complex creatures. But if I'm going to be a poster child for anything, anger's a gorgeous emotion. It gets a bad rap, but it can make great changes happen.
What is fear but courage's shadow?
Why is there ever this perverse cruelty in humankind, that makes us hurt most those we love best?
All knowledge is worth having
There is no fulfillment that is not made sweeter for the prolonging of desire
The pain of the flesh is naught to that of the heart
We are all these things [. . . ]. Pride, desire, compassion, cleverness, belligerence, fruitfulness, loyalty. . . and guilt. But above it all stands love. And if we desire to be more than human, that is the star by which we must set our sights.
Americans were people who wanted to leave every place better than they found it, to leave every man more of a man than they found him. . . . Americans could open doors to almost all that was admirable - it was their misfortune, not their fault, that movies and victrolas and advertisements squeezed in when they opened the door.
I've gotten bored with jazz to the point where I wouldn't mind something bad happening. Slapping hurts, but at some point it'll wake you up. I feel like jazz needs a big-ass slap.
I don't buy the tabloids, but you're surrounded by it all and people tell you things they've read. I'd be sitting on a train looking over someone's shoulder and thinking: That's familiar. . . oh my God, it's me.
It's the best feeling when you wake up and it's warm and cozy, and you don't have to go to work.