I was afraid of being rejected, yes. I was also afraid of being accepted for the wrong reasons.

And then I did what I had never done in his presence, much less in his arms. I cried.

Love means not ever having to say you're sorry.

Part of being a big winner is the ability to be a big loser. There is no paradox involved. It is a distinctly Harvard thing to be able to turn any defeat into victory

Some were brilliant bordering on genius. Others, genius bordering on madness

What term do you employ when you speak of your progenitor?" I answered with the term I'd always wanted to employ. "Sonovabitch." "To his face?" she asked. "I never see his face." "He wears a mask?" "In a way, yes. Of stone. Of absolute stone.

Quiet heroism or youthful idealism, or both? What do we know? That life without heroism and idealism is not worth living - or that either can be fatal?