She doesn't believe in dogs, Bridget said. Dogs are hardly an article of faith, Sylvie said.

Young men of my type are prone to be impatient of details, and give their loyalties without regard to evidence.

It's hard to have faith in your fellow man when you're forced to look at some of his handiwork.

You may have noticed that the books you really love are bound together by a secret thread. You know very well what is the common quality that makes you love them, though you cannot put it into words:...

He isn't stupid, but his interests are so narrow I doubt I could slip a sheet of paper in between them

There are some laws that are coded into the very nature of the universe, and one is: There Is Never Enough Shelf Space.

Legends about predictions are common throughout the Human Family. Gods speak, spirits speak, computers speak.

how easy human frailties could thrive under the cover of idealism

Narziss was dark and thin of face, and Goldmund open and radiant as a flower. Narziss was a thinker and anatomiser, Goldmund a dreamer and a child. Yet things common to both could bridge these...

That's the problem with wishes, they ensnare you. In fairy tales they're nothing but trouble, magnifying the greed and vanity of the person for whom they are granted.

My big trouble is, I always sort of think whoever I'm necking is a pretty intelligent person. It hasn't got a goddam thing to do with it, but I keep thinking it anyway.

Our prisons are full of people who think they're Napoleon..or God.

The same as most prayers, the bulk of what you hear is complaints and demands. Help me. Hear me. Lead me. Forgive me.

"The real shit {that was Mo’s mantra} is pigeons, not their shit. Divorce is when you take away what you no longer need from those you no longer love."

All war is fratricide, and there is therefore an infinite chain of blame that winds its circuitous route back and forth across the path and under the feet of every people and every nation, so that a...

There is a force of persuasion in the scent, stronger than that of words, glances, feelings, and will. It cannot be rejected, it penetrates our lungs like the air we breathe, it overflows within us,...

Perhaps thee will best understand what Abigail is like if I tell thee that when she quilts she prefers to stitch in the ditch, hiding her poor stitches in the seams between the blocks.

Handle with care - everything - even the predators.

How quickly compassion invades noble hearts!

Well it is said that neither love nor power Admit a rival, even for an hour.

"... I hid myself between two leaves of sorrel, and there discharged the necessities of nature."

And now leave me in peace for a bit! I don't want to answer a string of questions while I am eating. I want to think!

There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights...

I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.

That of dealing death, of loosing another man's soul and sending it down to hell. You want to savor it, to twist the blade deeper and pull the man's heart and guts out upon the iron point of your...

He was wondering if there was some cryptic, cultish mark on his door that told all the crazy people he'd have trouble saying no.

Their eyes were dark and hard and glowing, with no fear in them, no kindness and no guilt.

I want to sleep with you. Now, tonight, and at any time you may care to call me. I want your naked body, your skin, your mouth, your hands... -I want you like an animal... or a whore.

he's always been moody. Even when he was a baby he was like a cat. All snuggly one second and then the next, he'd be looking at you like he had no idea who you were.

He exuded ambiguities she decided, that was his fascination. His mouth spoke; his eyes said something other: his smile belied everything... He played with the language of the Circle of Days like a...