People were so naive about plants, Ellie thought. They just chose plants for appearance, as they would choose a picture for the wall. It never occurred to them that plants were actually living things,...
Human intelligence was more trouble than it was worth. It was more destructive than creative, more confusing than revealing, more discouraging than satisfying, more spiteful than charitable.
Some genealogies claimed to be able to trace the Maclean ancestry even further back, going as far as Julius Caesar, and, in some cases, admittedly more tendentiously, to the ancient Celtic god of the...
Commissioner Harris at the far end stared along the mad pathway. This was his first child and it had already become a murderer.
Geniuses never pay attention.
of being linked with each other, we have every temptation to be selfish and unmoved by others and by their plight. Our towns, our cities, our places become no more than hotels, with all that lack of...
that weddings are far more than marriage ceremonies; we know that they are occasions for family stock-taking and catharsis; that
The forges of friendship, thought Angus, may be busy ones, but their dorrs are always open.
His sixth year, it seemed to him, had lasted a remarkably long time and there were points at which he frankly wondered whether he would ever turn seven. But now it was the night before his birthday,...
You think man can destroy the planet? What intoxicating vanity. Earth has survived everything in its time. It will certainly survive us. To the earth...a million years is nothing. This planet lives...
Morrie likes the nickname. Coach, he says. All right, I'll be your coach. And you can be my player. You can play all the lovely parts of life that I'm too old for now.
No buts, Bertie. If you don't keep your promise then you'll get into serious trouble. Big time. You could go to prison, and then what? And there's God too. God watches these things and if he sees you...
the finding of a cargo of whisky was, in a sense, like the finding by the Israelites of manna in the wilderness. And
How much older can you be at your age? A half minute before that you were stepping into high school, and an unhooked brassiere was as close as you ever hoped to get to Paradise. Only a fifth of a...
And it was not surprising, perhaps, that he should feel it-this little boy who felt things so deeply; for we all feel that about our friends; we all feel that about those around whom we might put an...
She brought a chair into the room and placed it alongside the top of his bed. Then she held his hand as he drifted off to sleep. It was so small in her own hand, and it felt warm and dry. She pressed...
And would you like to do that, Bertie? asked the psychotherapist. Bertie nodded. Dr. St. Clair scribbled a note on his pad. Fantasies of escape, he wrote. But why Iceland? 50. A Fiscally Responsible...
Power is neither male or female.
So that was where we were in our relationship. Derwent's scale ran all the way from wouldn't piss - on - you - if - you - were - on - fire to would - kill - for - you - no - need - to - ask - twice. I...
Justice is a necessity for a fair and free society.
The unparalleled truth shall always outlive the lies. Goodness can prevail depending on the unwavering courage of those who hold the unparalleled truth. In a very corrupt culture, I am not so sure...
Pike held out Karen's photograph. "Have you seen this woman?" "No. I am sorry." Every word like that. Without contractions.
When Pike turned back, Cole pointed at the corner of the roof. A pale blue alarm panel was mounted near the end of the building, but the cover was missing. Old wires had been cut, and new wires had...
The purpose of history is to explain the present - to say why the world around us is the way it is. History tells us what is important in our world, and how it came to be. It tells us what is to be...
Grant knew that people could not imagine geological time. Human life was lived on another scale of time entirely. An apple turned brown in a few minutes. Silverware turned black in a few days. A...
Raising children is, in a sense, the reason the society exists in the first place. It's the most important thing that happens, and it's the culmination of all the tools and language and social...
Life is wonderful. It's a gift to be alive, to see the sun and breathe the air. And there isn't really anything else.
Let's be clear. The planet is not in jeopardy. We are in jeopardy. We haven't got the power to destroy the planet - or to save it. But we might have the power to save ourselves.
There was a Lieutenant Procházka that didn't scold much. He only called his ordinance: "My graceful cow." His ordinance, such a Hibman, never heard him another improper. This hibman was so used so...
- {...} Once I read, I declare obediently, that there was a great battle in which a Swedish king fell along with his faithful horse. They took both carcasses to Sweden, and now the two codes are...
You get a strange feeling when you're about to leave a place...like you'll not only miss the people you love but you'll miss the person you are now at this time and this place, because you'll never be...
The Bishop blessed him and helped him to his feet."May God have mercy on you," he said. And erased him from his heart.
The world advances. Yes, I said, progress, but circling around the sun.
The Red Lion was a four-ale bar with a handful of lowbrowed sons of toil who looked as though they...
What could you do? Major Major asked himself again. What could you do with a man who looked you...
If I turned towards books, it was because they were the only sanctuary I knew, one I needed in order...
We all had to pay, but not for the crimes we were accused of. There were other scores to settle.
Hope for some means its loss for others; when the hopeless regain some hope, those in power--the...
It isn't even good grammar. What the hell does it mean when they disappear somebody?
Read me back the last line. 'Read me back the last line,' read back the corporal who could take...
Why are they going to disappear him? I don't know. It doesn't make sense. It isn't even good...
Keep in mind that when we talk of a great painting we are not really talking about anything great....