Of course it would cost something, but he was an expert in cutting corners; and when there were no more corners left he would make circles rounder.

We have in my country (Russia) a quotation: "It is impossible to make out of apology a fur coat.

The short story packs a self in a few pages predicating a lifetime

A man is an island in the only sense that matters, not an easy way to be. We live in mystery, a cosmos of separate lonely bodies, men, insects, stars. It is all loneliness and men know it best.

Overnight business could go down enough to hurt; yet as a rule it slowly recovered-sometimes it seemed to take forever-went up, not high enough to be really up, only not down.

As long as a man stays alive he can't tell what chances will pop up next. But a dead man signs no checks.

Of course it would cost something, but he was an expert in cutting corners; and when there were no more corners left he would make circles rounder.