Being rich is not about how much money you have or how many homes you own; it's the freedom to buy any book you want without looking at the price and wondering if you can afford it.

[W]hat I like best is staying home and reading. Being rich is not about how many homes you own. It’s the freedom to pick up any book you want without looking at the price and wondering whether you can afford it.

It wasn't until I started reading and found books they wouldn't let us read in school that I discovered you could be insane and happy and have a good life without being like everybody else.

If you go home with somebody, and they don't have books, don't fuck 'em!

When we needed to find a hippie bookstore that sold secondhand books, I thought of Abandoned Planet (518 Valencia St.), which is right across the street from where I used to live, ... When I was a starving writer-director-actor, I'd go to the Muddy Waters Cafe (521 Valencia St.) every day, buy a $3.50 burrito and eat half for lunch, half for dinner.

There are, while human miseries abound, A thousand ways to waste superfluous wealth, Without one fool or flatterer at your board, Without one hour of sickness or disgust.