Venice, As A City, Was A Foundling,

For Self-realization, A Rebel Demands A Strong Authority, A Worthy Opponent, God To His Lucifer.

I Really Tried, Or So I Thought, To Avoid Lying, But It Seemed To Me That They Forced It On Me By The Difference In Their Vision Of Things, So That I Was Always Transposing Reality For Them Into Something They Could Understand.

The Return To A Favorite Novel Is Generally Tied Up With Changes In Oneself That Must Be Counted As Improvements, But Have The Feel Of Losses. It Is Like Going Back To A Favorite House, Country, Person; Nothing Is Where It Belongs, Including One's Heart.

I Shall Never Send For A Priest Or Recite An Act Of Contrition In My Last Moments. I Do Not Mind If I Lose My Soul For All Eternity. If The Kind Of God Exists Who Would Damn Me For Not Working Out A Deal With Him, Then That Is Unfortunate. I Should Not Care To Spend Eternity In The Company Of Such A Person.

It Is Impossible, Except For Theologians, To Conceive Of A World-wide Scandal Or A Universe-wide Scandal; The Proof Of This Is The Way People Have Settled Down To Living With Nuclear Fission, Radiation Poisoning, Hydrogen Bombs, Satellites, And Space Rockets.