"You pretend to be more eccentric than you actually are because you fear you are an interchangeable cog."

"When future archaeologists dig up the remains of California, they're going to find all of those gyms their scary-looking gym equipment, and they're going to assume that we were a culture obsessed with torture."

"If human beings had genuine courage, they'd wear their costumes every day of the year, not just on Halloween."

"The real killers in the business world aren't the ones who aim for the top, it's the ones who aim for two notches below the top."

"It is natural to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes to that siren until she allures us to our death."

"About the most originality that any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgment."

"A strong mind always hopes, and has always cause to hope."

"Life without idealism is empty indeed. We just hope or starve to death."