“Most of the trouble in this world has been caused by folks who can’t mind their own business, because they have no business of their own to mind, any more than a smallpox virus has.”

I began to get a feeling familiar to me from my bartending days of being the only sane man in a nuthouse. It doesn’t make you feel superior but depressed and scared, because there is nobody you can contact.

Life is a vacation from two eternities, who wants to waste those precious years worrying about what happens when you get back to forever?

Every word is autobiographical, and every word is fiction.

After one look at this planet any visitor from outer space would say ‘I want to see the manager.’

I prefer cats to people, for the most part. Most people aren’t cute at all, and if they are cute they very rapidly outgrow it.

Sometimes paranoia’s just having all the facts.

(1) Never give anything away for nothing. (2) Never give more than you have to give (always catch the buyer hungry and always make him wait). (3) Always take everything back if you possibly can.

Language is a virus from outer space.

Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.

Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape.

Too perfect to be sexually attractive.

There’s no place for impractical dreamers around here.

You must learn to exist with no religion, no country, no allies. You must learn to live alone in silence.

After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn’t do it. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to live in a society where the only people allowed guns are the police and the military.

There is no line between the ‘real world’ and ‘world of myth and symbol.’ Objects, sensations, hit with the impact of hallucination.

In my writing I am acting as a map maker, an explorer of psychic areas, a cosmonaut of inner space, and I see no point in exploring areas that have already been thoroughly surveyed.

If I hadn’t had Freddie Mercury’s lyrics to hold on to as a kid I don’t know where I would be. It taught me about all forms of music… it would open my mind. I never really had a bigger teacher in my whole life.

Never neglect details. When everyone’s mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant.

I suppose I’ve always been attracted to this sort of outsider in general – in literature, in music, politics, whatever – and to the person that is able to be relentlessly themselves. I don’t think that I have that quality, that strength of mind.

Sleeping is like meditation: it’s good to rest the body but also to shut the mind down for a bit.

I do plan my study day. I think that prioritizing is absolutely critical. It is so critical that you understand what is important and what can be left undone. Then you will base your schedule on your priorities. You’ve got to be single-minded about your priorities.

I feel so blessed to just have done what I had done. To be able to just use what God has given me is a blessing. You know, never mind the Grammys, never mind the records, never mind all of that. Just to be able to sing.

As a broken microphone cannot broadcast a message, so a restless mind cannot transmit prayers to God

Lots of people will protest that it’s quite unreal and that I’m out of my mind, but that’s just too bad.