We need to laugh at the irrationality of evil, for in doing so we deny evil's power over us, diminish its influence in the world, and tarnish the allure it has for some people.

She says what holds their marriage together is that she feels too damn sorry for him to ask for a divorce.

That's all that matters, really: that we can make each other feel better.

Some people think only intellect counts: knowing how to solve problems, knowing how to get by, knowing how to identify an advantage and seize it. But the functions of intellect are insufficient without courage, love, friendship, compassion, and empathy.

Tommy told Sal about the strange white-cloth figure with black stitches that he had found on the front porch. "Sounds like Pillsbury Doughboy gone punk," Sal said.

I just became fascinated with how complex and unlikely the universe is and life is and Catholicism gives me an answer to that.

Books are packaged dreams.