How strange too and unfamiliar to think that one had been loved, that one's presence had once had the power to make a difference between happiness and dullness in another's day.

This (Vietnam) was a land of rebellious barons. It was like Europe in the Middle Ages. But what were the Americans doing here? Columbus had not yet discovered their country.

There's a virtue in slowness, which we have lost

Rocinante was of more value for a true traveller than a jet plane. Jet planes were for business men.

Human nature is not black and white but black and grey.

...every monologue sooner or later becomes a discussion.

So long as one is happy one can endure any discipline: it was unhappiness that broke down the habits of work.