I wanted a literate, socially intricate, and cosmopolitan world - something I could have fun destroying.

There was such a difference, he thought, between the beauty that illuminated, and the beauty that was illuminated.

Any fool can see the limits of seeing, but not even the wisest know the limits of knowing. Thus is ignorance rendered invisible, and are all Men made fools.

Here we find further argument for Gotagga’s supposition that the world is round. How else could all men stand higher than their brothers?

Faith is the truth of passion. Since no passion is more true than another, faith is the truth of nothing.

Though all men be equally frail before the world, the differences between them are terrifying.

Love is lust made meaningful. Hope is hunger made human.

To indulge it is to breed it. To punish it is to feed it. Madness knows no bridle but the knife.

History. Language. Passion. Custom. All these things determine what men say, think, and do. These are the hidden puppet-strings from which all men hang.

Consequences lost all purchase when they became mad. And desperation, when pressed beyond anguish, became narcotic.

Something ... made him feel small, not in the way of orphans or beggars or children, but in a good way. In the way of souls.

The more you hide, the higher the walls around you gets. The more you cry in silence, the thicker it becomes.

Through darkness diamonds spread their richest light.

Love corrupts and absolute love corrupts absolutely. The unreasonable systems of men, that is.

Happiness compresses time, makes it dense and bright, pocketsized.

I can’t tell you what a pleasure it is to just put my hair under a wig cap and slap on a wig that’s already done. It’s dress up for your hair!

I never joined the Boy Scouts. I don't trust any organization that has a handbook.

Eee-nee-mee-nee-my-nee-moe

Richard Dawkins's The Selfish Gene is a classic example of science fiction.

A person whose job is deep thinking about atomic war would no more call a 'megadeath' a 'million corpses' than an embalmer would refer to a 'loved one' as a 'stiff.'

Every moment is a new and shocking transvaluation of all we have ever been.