The hermit Anthony once told me that a monk is like a fish: take him out of his element and he dies. Silence is his element. In silence you can trade this shoddy world for Heaven.

The only way to know the answer is by asking questions. Religion tries to suppress the questions asking (curiosity) because it can threaten its own existence. The truth is out there, go ask for it!

There are no unsacred places

Everyone can use a little beauty.

... it is easier to tell someone closer to you before you tell your partner.

There is no greater impediment to the advancement of knowledge than the ambiguity of words.

Open the book. (The gilt rubs off the edges of the pages and pollinates the fingertips.)

There are no throwaway people.

The pure culture is the foundation for all research on infectious disease.

We deal with all varieties of information. Somebody's always upset no matter what we do. We have to make a decision; otherwise there's a never-ending debate.

While she was no radical, no natural breaker of rules, no seeker of the bold statement, she was in her own serene way uncaring of convention and others' opinions.