If an addict who has been completely cured starts smoking again he no longer experiences the discomfort of his first addiction. There exists, therefore, outside alkaloids and habit, a sense for opium, an intangible habit which lives on, despite the recasting of the organism.... The dead drug leaves a ghost behind. At certain hours it haunts the house.

There is always a period when a man with a beard shaves it off. This period does not last. He returns headlong to his beard.

It is not I who become addicted, it is my body.

If a hermit lives in a state of ecstasy, his lack of comfort becomes the height of comfort. He must relinquish it.

Reality is a crutch for people who can't cope with drugs.

Back in my rummy days, I would tremble and shake for hours upon arising. It was the only exercise I got.

Addiction may be something to which some of us are predisposed, like diabetes, rather than a voluntary behavior - but it's also reversible. A 'disease model' o…