I know what cancer was. How is it like humankind?" Sek Hardeen's perfectly modulated, softly accented tones showed a hint of agitation. "We have spread out through the galaxy like cancer cells through a living body, Duré. We multiply without thought to the countless life forms that must die or be pushed aside so that we may breed and flourish. We eradicate competing forms of intelligent life.

There is a fullness and calmness there which can come only from knowing pain.

Life is brutal that way ... the loss of irrecoverable moments amid trivia and distraction.

Power: a currency that never went out of style.

I loved almost everything about being a teacher, but I was an unusual teacher

Doing a life study while drunk and in the process of being seduced is never a formula for quality art.

It's odd how violence and humor so often go together, isn't it?