We see best
by candlelight
—Geof Huth

"He lives doubly who also enjoys the past." —Marcus Martial

"An iceberg is water striving to be land; a mountain, especially a Himalaya, especially Everest, is land's attempt to metamorphose into sky; it is grounded in flight, the earth mutated—nearly—into air, and become, in the true sense, exalted." —Salman Rushdie

You can feel the pulse
in the slipping away
—Geof Huth

"A book is a version of the world.  If you do not like it, ignore it; or offer your own version in return."
—Salman Rushdie

"In the end, why shouldn't a madman rule the world?"
—Gustav Meyrink, Walpurgisnacht

The Toronto Standard on our latest book, Franzlations:

"This is the really incomprehensible side of humanity, people never have time for anything."
—Leonora Carrington, The Hearing Trumpet

(On a related note, here's our earlier list of "The Problem[s] With People.")

"Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game.  Free speech is life itself."
—Salman Rushdie

There's only one rule:

• there are no rules (if you're stretching your imagination) —David Goss, The Science of Living Better Forever

• step on a crack , break your mother's back (if you're playing a sidewalk game)

• have the teapot in front of you at all times (if you're crocheting tea cosies) —Loani Prior, Really Wild Tea Cosies

• no deep-fried foods (if you're throwing a party and watching your cholesterol) —Mary Mihaly, The Complete Guide to Lowering Your Cholesterol

• there's no being tired (if you're touring Paris) —Penelope Rowlands, Paris Was Ours

• say "Thank you" (if you're receiving a compliment) —Thriving in the Workplace All-in-One For Dummies

• the teddy bear stays in the house (if you're a dog in training) —Heavenly Humor for the Dog Lover's Soul

• never, ever let a boy touch you there unless he's your husband —Gillian Flynn, Dark Places

• wear whatever is most comfortable (if you're hiking with a dog) —Dan Nelson, Best Hikes with Dogs Western Washington

• never miss paying your round (if you're drinking with friends) —Jack Kahane, Memoirs of a Booklegger

• there must be at least one [item] on the list that is impossible (if you're setting goals) —David Taylor, The Naked Millionaire

• anything goes, as long as you keep at least two tires on the pavement (if you're driving an automobile) —Glenn Beck, The Overton Window

• conquer at any price (if you're on the battlefield) —Luis M. Rocha, The Holy Bullet

• yes means yes and no means no (in the sexual marketplace) —Glenn T. Stanton, Secure Daughters, Confident Sons

• never get involved with a student (if you're a good teacher) —Hank Brooks, The Inlet

• if you represent the wife, get as much as possible; if you represent the husband, give away as little as possible (in divorce settlement) —Howard K. Irving, Children Come First

• form, structure and content should not be separate (in synaesthetic cinema) —Simon Rycroft, Swinging City

• don't eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (if you're in the Garden of Eden)

• you need one equation for every unknown (in algebra) —Norman S. Pratt, Pearls for the Moment

• don't hit the ducks (in a joke about a golf course in heaven) —Stephen Motway, Jokes, Quotes, and Other Assorted Things

• the fewer attachments and aversions you have to the goal, the quicker it will manifest (if you're a non-dualistic self-inquirer) —Aleksander Kupisz, Holistic Creation and Focus Zone Chi Gong

• no touching of the net (if you're a volley ball player) —Joseph A Bulko, Wall of Illusion, Book 3

• you clean up after yourself down there (if you're in the kitchen) —Jennifer Taylor Wojcik, From Day One

• learn to listen (if you're training to be a good communicator) —John Mason, Believe You Can

"Anything's possible after five years in Europe."
—José Donoso, The Obscene Bird of Night

"How could one decide to become part of a world whose loftiest truths are determined by a dish of marinated eels?"
—José Donoso, The Obscene Bird of Night

"When you arrive at the structure, begin examining the structure from the top."
—Electrical Transmission in a New Age (2002)

Ask any person to tell you what missing teeth are — "real," everyday missing teeth, not the abstract extractions of theoretical dentistry — and he will likely elaborate upon abscessed absences, silver-filled nonentities, cavitied nothingnesses, fairy chattel.  How can it be that a baby's toothless smile is contagious?  Can a toothless smiler be preoccupied?

[Apologies to philosopher Roberto Casati.]

Dedicated to Gary Barwin.

"Still it is undeniable that behind all science and mysticism, behind all the approaches of West and East, there is but one area of reality and realization: the human psyche. Whatever preternatural realities might make themselves known to us, they must do so by way of the psyche or else go unnoticed." —Stephan A. Hoeller, "Wise Men from the East"

"Shouldn't we be speaking of something more important than life and death?"
—Gustav Meyrink, The Angel of the West Window

"A poet's work . . . to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world and stop it from going to sleep."
—Salman Rushdie

"Books choose their authors; the act of creation is not entirely a rational and conscious one."
—Salman Rushdie