Uselessness, she thought, was the permanent condition of parenthood.

But I felt it necessary to be part of the war effort and I enlisted in the Navy to be a flyer.

Photography is like a moment, an instant. You need a half-second to get the photo. So it's good to capture people when they are themselves.

People in so many countries look up to the United States as a model of democracy, but I doubt if that can continue. It leaves me with a great sense of loss.

There are no ugly women, only lazy.

The world is a construct of our sensations, perceptions, memories. It is convenient to regard it as existing objectively on its own. But it certainly does not become manifest by its mere existence.

"Kent?" I say, and my voice seems to have to rise from inside the fog, taking forever to get from my brain to my mouth. "Yeah?" "Promise you'll stay here with me?" I say. "I promise," he whispers.

I didn't really understand that Vipassana is a relatively new form of Buddhism that was based on the storage of pain. So the idea is that every time you don't scream, that's your Buddhist side.

Have you tried to talk to her?" "What would you like me to say Bastian? OH, I'M SORRY, INEZ. I DIDN'T MEAN TO BITE YOU, MY FANGS SLIPPED.

With success comes unhelpful criticism - ignore it.

Whatever is weak, avoid! It is death.