I think we are wise, we English speakers, to savor accents. They teach us things about our own tongue.

Why does shame and self-loathing become cruelty to the innocent ?

What mysteries we are, human, vampire, monster, mortal, that we can love and hate simultaneously, and that emotions of all sorts might not parade for what they are not.

Even if you're not enjoying the flight, it's futile to threaten to get out and walk.

Resisting the powers that be, we are keeping things from getting worse than they otherwise might be. And that effort is very much worthwhile.

Humans are very seldom either totally sincere or totally hypocritical. Their moods change, their motives are mixed, and they are often quite mistaken as to what their motives are.

There are only two great currents in the history of mankind: the baseness which makes conservatives and the envy which makes revolutionaries.

As known unknowns become known; unknown unknowns proliferate; the larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder.

Loving an old bachelor is always a no-win situation, and you come to terms with that early on, or you go away.

I can’t help thinking about memoir as a down-and-up process: Dive down for color; come up for context. Sink back down for action; climb back up for self-awareness and gratitude.

You always have to know when to bow out. You bow out while you are on top.

My greatest strength is the love for my people, my greatest weakness is that I love them too much.

It's the first gift that's always the hardest to pay back.