the possession of power brings on madness.

The law should be the point at which savagery ended because civilization stood in its path.

Man hovers between Paradise and the Pit.

A daughter,' Rowley scooped up the child and held her high. The baby blinked from sleep and crowed with him. 'Any fool can have a son,' he said. 'It takes a man to conceive a daughter.

Alcoholism plus criminality plus whatever caused both in the first place form a combination that is very nearly happy-ending-proof.

the possession of power brings on madness.

The scar, and her indifference to it, did something extraordinary for her, just as damage to some art object threw into relief how beautiful it had once been, tarnishing and tempering her face with the reminder of what humanity did to lovely things and how they bore it.