In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship.

Like most North Americans of his generation, Hal tends to know way less about why he feels certain ways about the objects and pursuits he's devoted to than he does about the objects and pursuits themselves. It's hard to say for sure whether this is even exceptionally bad, this tendency.

This diagnosis can be done in about two lines. It doesn't engage anybody.

I felt the sort of soaring, ceilingless tedium that transcends tedium and becomes worry.

In reality, there is no such thing as not voting: you either vote by voting, or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the value of some Diehard's vote.

Whatever you get paid attention for is never what you think is most important about yourself.

I love the way you love, but I hate the way I'm supposed to love you back.