47 quotes
University Educator; pulmonologist, allergist
“Nothing attunes you to the beauty of the quotidian like a man who decides not to kill you after all”
"In an individual, selfishness uglifies the soul; for the human species, selfishness is extinction."
on Philosophy
"A book you finish reading is not the same book it was before you read it."
on Writing
"Human cruelty can be infinite. Human generosity can be boundless."
"Poems are lenses, mirrors, and X-ray machines."
on Art
"Integrity is a bugger, it really is. Lying can get you into difficulties, but to really wind up in the crappers try telling nothing but the truth."
on Truth
"Strip back the beliefs pasted on by governesses, schools, and states, you find indelible truths at one's core."
on Identity
"Travel far enough, you meet yourself."
on Life
"You only value something if you know it’ll end."
"Laughter is an anarchic blasphemy. Tyrants are wise to fear it."
on Humor
"A weapon men use against women is the refusal to take them seriously."
on Wisdom
"Faith, the least exclusive club on Earth, has the craftiest doorman."
on Faith
"If you show someone something you've written, you give them a sharpened stake, lie down in your coffin, and say, ‘When you’re ready’."
"This, explained the angel, is hell. The people do not love each other. They only want to feed themselves."
on Love
"At certain rare moments, a library is a kind of mind."
on Knowledge
"Books don't offer real escape, but they can stop a mind scratching itself raw."
"A half-read book is a half-finished love affair."
"We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love."
"Hobbies are for pleasure, but rituals keep you going."
"Taro taught me that people respect spirit, but even cowards don't respect cowards."
"Think larger. Redraw what is possible."
on Imagination