A story. This was the key to immortality. The things that made kings quiver and deities distrustful: Nothing but a tale.

Fear was a reminder that even the insubstantial could kill. But insubstantial meant it had no shape. It couldn't be conquered or tamed or avoided. Only moved through, with force and will.

All war is philosophical. That's why we call it war. Strip it of its paint and it's nothing more than murder.

Beauty, coveted though it was, could not outlive you. Only actions would.

Existence is the gift. Life is a choice.

Ah, desire. Such a poisonous thing.

Enough tiny sharp jabs can cut as deeply as any knife.

The problem with guilt was not how it attacks the present, but how it stained the past. Hindsight was a blemish on memory.

All art is a form of vulnerability because at least part of the artist goes into the piece.

Describing Robert Bunsen:As an investigator he was great, as a teacher he was greater, as a man and friend he was greatest.

He was in hell. Worse than that, he was in hell, and someone had set it on repeat.

A sensible woman should be guided by her head when taking a husband, and by her heart when taking a lover.

You can't have a high-quality relationship without time and without trust.

It's not for any purpose such as religion, health, or things like that, I just never felt I had the need or want to drink or do drugs.

Sometimes I think more creativity is put into muffin recipes than into the rest of society combined.

MacPherson told me that my theorem can be viewed as blah blah blah Grothendieck blah blah blah, which makes it much more respectable.

Children were pack animals; let any one of them act different from the group, and the rest would bring him down.

To define an expression is, paradoxically speaking, to explain how to get along without it. To define is to eliminate.