Actually, I was having dinner with Michael (Stipe, of R.E.M.) when our — Billy Corgan

"...What people miss about (Marilyn) Manson is that he is just reflecting, hes an artist, people want to focus that energy on him, but its not really him, its really about you. So for every guy sitting there with a beer and a .45 in his belt, Manson is just speaking to that end of society. Hes speaking as an artist. Hes not speaking as himself, and thats where people get really lost with Manson."

"The simplest way that I can understand therapy is that were born a certain way, were taught to be something different, and we spend our whole lives trying to unravel it and ultimately align ourselves with who we really are. Life, experiences, traumas -- whatever -- they all add up to make you some altered version of what you are. So theres this battle that goes on between what you are and what you become, and its been very important for me to unravel what I was taught to be or what I became. and to draw a direct parallel to music -- the closer I get back to being who I really am, the stronger the music gets, because I think what talent I do have is connected to that person, its not a manipulative process, its intuitive. You can learn about chords and guitars, but theres a piece of you that makes it individual, and its been a slow process for me to become whatever it is that Im supposed to be."

"Its about the girlfriend who left me last year. I tried to put all my anger in those words, even though Im just as much to blame for the break-up. Soma is based on the idea that a love relationship is almost the same as opium: it slowly puts you to sleep, it soothes you, and gives you the illusion of sureness and security. Very deceivable."

"I get more out of life just being myself, by just being a human being. Not by being a rock star, not by being whatever. Sometimes I act like a jerk, but I think people respect me for being myself. Thats the ultimate thing about the Smashing Pumpkins."

"About six months ago, I listened to Siamese Dream. That was the first time Id ever really heard my own album, because I had separated from the experience of making the record. And it really moved me. It made me cry, its so beautiful."

"Theres a really a cold, cold side to my personality that Im not really comfortable with. Im constantly dealing with that side of my personality versus my overly sentimental side… Theres just a side thats a real motherfucker side; its nothing I want to admit or even look at. Its where a lot of my strength lies. Its been the part of me thats been able to steel my spine against situations that probably would have broken a lot of people, or caused them to jump off the loop."

"One of the first major steps in the direction of modern skepticism came through the victory of Occam over Aquinas in a controversy about language. The statement that modi essendi were replaced by modi significandi et intelligendi, or that ontological referents were abandoned in favor of pragmatic significations, describes broadly the change in philosophy which continues to our time. From Occam to Bacon, from Bacon to Hobbes, and from Hobbes to contemporary semanticists, the progression is clear: ideas become psychological figments, words become useful signs. ... To one completely committed to this realm of becoming, as are the empiricists, the claim to apprehend verities is a sign of . Probably we have here but a highly sophisticated expression of the doctrine that ideals are hallucination and that the only normal, sane person is the healthy extrovert, making instant, instinctive adjustments to the stimuli of the material world."

"To have success in science, you need some luck. But to succeed in science, you need a lot more than luck. And its not enough to be smart — lots of people are very bright and get nowhere in life. In my view, you have to combine intelligence with a willingness not to follow conventions when they block your path forward."

"I, too, believed it was impossible to change the existing society into one that would be for the benefit of all; neither could I espouse any given ideal for society. But [...] I felt that even if one did not have an ideal vision of society, one could have one’s work to do. Whether it was successful or not was not our concern; it was enough that we believed it to be a valid work. The accomplishment of that work, I believed, was what our real life was about. Yes. I want to carry out a work of my own; for I feel that by so doing our lives are rooted in the here and now, not in some far-off ideal goal."

"We have already mentioned what may, perhaps, appear paradoxical to some of our readers, — that the division of labour can be applied with equal success to mental as to mechanical operations, and that it ensures in both the same economy of time."

"The war was finished. It had lasted ten equivalent years and taken ten million lives. Thus it was neither of long duration nor of serious attrition. It hadnt any great significance; it was not intended to have. It did not prove a point, since all points had long ago been proven. What it did, perhaps, was to emphasize an aspect, sharpen a concept, underline a trend. On the whole it was a successful operation. Economically and ecologically it was of healthy effect, and who should grumble? And after wars, men go home. No, no, men start for home. Its not the same."

"The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on. ... The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of genius, can deal with successfully."