More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
There is no such thing as inner peace. There is only nervousness or death.
Very few people possess true artistic ability. It is therefore both unseemly and unproductive to irritate the situation by making an effort. If you have a burning, restless urge to write or paint, simply eat something sweet and the feeling will pass. Your life story would not make a good book. Do not even try.
The common good is not my cup of tea—it is the uncommon good in which I am interested,
Rather than attempt to answer this question by utilizing the methods of the investigative reporter—legwork, research, and digging for facts—I decided instead to employ those of the irresponsible wag: lying on the sofa, talking on the phone, and making things up.
The three questions of greatest concern are: Is it attractive? Is it amusing? Does it know its place?
That I am totally devoid of sympathy for, or interest in, the world of groups is directly attributable to the fact that my two greatest needs and desires—smoking cigarettes and plotting revenge—are basically solitary pursuits.
Rome is a very loony city in every respect. One needs but spend an hour or two there to realize that Fellini makes documentaries.
If one follows this line of thought to its logical conclusion one clearly sees that almost without exception every displeasing aspect of science is, in one way or another, a hideous corruption of the concept of reading at night.
The rigors of learning how to do long division have been a traditional part of childhood, just like learning to smoke.
I have never taught a child to smoke before he has first taken a piece of paper and a pencil and demonstrated to my satisfaction that he can correctly divide 163 by 12.
always a godmother, never a God.
heterosexuality among males in urban areas is caused primarily by overcrowding in artist colonies.
I love sleep because it is both pleasant and safe to use. Pleasant because one is in the best possible company and safe because sleep is the consummate protection against the unseemliness that is the invariable consequence of being awake. What you don’t know won’t hurt you. Sleep is death without the responsibility.
In fact, so strongly committed was he to sleep that one could barely distinguish Ike’s sleeping from Ike’s waking.
life is something to do when you can’t get to sleep. Therefore, that which we call civilization is merely the accumulated debris of a chilling number of bad nights.
I had barely recovered from the appellative blow struck by SoHo (South of Houston Street) when I received a quick left to the sensibility in the form of NoHo (North of Houston Street). Head bloody but unbowed, I dropped my guard and TriBeCa (Triangle Below Canal Street) scored a T.K.O. in the very first sound.
There is nothing less appealing than a color fraught with meaning—the very notion is boisterous, inappropriate, and marked by the dreariest sort of longing.
When the doctor spanks the baby the baby is not at all surprised.
CB slang is on the one hand too colorful and on the other hand lacking a counterpart for the words pearl gray.
CB communication consists almost wholly of actual information. It is, therefore, of no interest to the civilized conversationalist.
Should one of you boys happen upon a girl who doesn’t put out, do not jump to the conclusion that you have found a lady. What you have probably found is a lesbian.
The major problem resulting from this conviction is that it causes such people to take personally the inalienable right of freedom of speech. This in itself would be at least tolerable were this group not given to such a broad interpretation of the word freedom or such a slender interpretation of the word speech.
Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things, and small people talk about wine.
Surrounded by these venerable objects, I cheerfully noted that I had at long last achieved all three of my material goals: new money, old furniture and a separate room to write in.
Many tourists come to Los Angeles because of the climate, attracted no doubt by the pleasant glare and festive air colors.
It’s not that it’s three hours earlier in California; it’s that the days are three hours longer.
If you’re going to America, bring your own food.
Thoughtstyle can probably best be defined by noting that in the phrase “lifestyle” we have the perfect example of the total being lesser than the sum of its parts, since those who use the word “lifestyle” are rarely in possession of either.
What is the difference, you may now be asking, between an idea and a notion? Well, the primary difference, of course, is that a notion you can sell but an idea you can’t even give away.
