Run fast, stand still. This, the lesson from lizards. For all writers. Observe almost any survival creature, you see the same. Jum...p, run, freeze. In the ability to flick like an eyelash, crack like a whip, vanish like steam, here this instant, gone the next--life teems the earth. And when that life is not rushing to escape, it is playing statues to do the same. See the hummingbird, there, not there. As thought arises and blinks off, so this thing of summer vapor; the clearing of a cosmic throat, the fall of a leaf. And where it was--a whisper. What can we writers learn from lizards, lift from birds? In quickness is truth. The faster you blurt, the more swiftly you write, the more honest you are. In hesitation is thought. In delay comes the effort for a style, instead of leaping upon truth which is the only style worth deadfalling or tiger-trapping. In between the scurries and flights, what? Be a chameleon, ink- blend, chromosome change with the landscape. Be a pet rock, lie with the dust, rest in the rainwater in the filled barrel by the drainspout outside your grandparents' window long ago.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
There seems to be no stopping drug frenzy once it takes hold of a nation. What starts with an innocuous HUGS, NOT DRUGS bumper sti...cker soon leads to wild talk of shooting dealers and making urine tests a condition for employment--anywhere.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the sources of our troubles, we shouldn't ...test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Upon entering my vein, the drug would start a warm edge that would surge along until the brain consumed it in a gentle explosion. ...It began in the back of the neck and rose rapidly until I felt such pleasure that the world sympathizing took on a soft, lofty appeal.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Narcotics have been systematically scapegoated and demonized. The idea that anyone can use drugs and escape a horrible fate is an ...anathema to these idiots. I predict that in the near future, right wingers will use drug hysteria as a pretext to set up an international police apparatus.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Happy are those who find wisdom, and those who get understanding, for her income is better than silver, and her revenue better tha...n gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I shall come out like gold. My foot has held fast to his steps; I have ke...pt his way and have not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured in my bosom the words of his mouth.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »