We worship fire because it is the closest sensation to what a man feels when love exists. Fire is a passage and a dance, but its destruction brings renewal.

There is a war out there, and believe me, Fly, it was never really between Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Crusaders and Confucius. The final battle is between those who love, respect, and liberate the body and those who hate it.

Do you know what fascinated him about Christianity? The elaborate rituals of sacrifice and the symbolic re-enactments of violence.

Other humans gaze at the sky, but I say unto you, the only way through the world is to pass through the underground.

I would argue that our libertine ways are better suited than any religion to protect man’s core against the devastating and tragic reality of life.

What do the stars believe in, Zainab? Where do the dead horses go, what do the birds worship, and what do the rivers live for?

People live their lives thinking that they are forgotten, and that is why we do the most outrageous things, so as not to go unnoticed.

My steps were muffled. It was quiet, so quiet that I felt as if I did not walk but instead crawled in silence. The snow covered everthing and I walked above cotton, on silent carpets, on beach sand. Softness is temporary and deceiving. It gently receives you and gently expels you.

Books were always important. I have to thank my father, he filled my life with books. He didn’t write but he always read. He was a merchant, he filled the store with cigarette smoke and his friends, all talking about books and politics. It was bad for business. He dealt in women’s clothing.

I don’t judge those who can’t dream, those who need to pierce their arms to create different worlds under their skin, because I am fortunate in the tools of my escapes.