Need is not transitive, one may need without oneself being needed.

Nobody knows, nobody can ever know, not even in memory, because there are moments in time that are not knowable.

I could not persuade her that a place does not merely exist, that it has to be invented in one's imagination.

People like my grandmother, who have no home but in memory, learn to be very skilled in the art of recollection.

I was already well schooled in looking away, the jungle-craft of gentility.

That unthinkable, adult truth: that need is not transitive, that one may need without oneself being needed.

There are some secrets which do not permit themselves to be told.

It's better for one to die than for all of us to be killed in a shooting affray. Anyway, we've practically no ammunition.

I think if you give your best as a parent, then that's all you can do.

One must always be civic-minded.

The study also included the disturbing revelation that most of the troops who reported having mental health problems also reported that they did not seek or did not receive care for their problems.

I have no regrets in my life. If not for the mistakes that I made I would not be the man I am today.

I can imagine many things, but few clearly.

Whatever it takes to get everybody loose, I'm going to do it!

When a mother, as fond mothers will; vows that she knows every thought in her daughter's heart, I think she pretends to know a great deal too much.

One should be wary of talking on end about such subjects as learning, morality or folklore in front of elders or people of rank. It is disagreeable to listen to.