I must cite an intrinsic condition of the universe. We set forth in any direction which seems convenient; each leads to the same place: the end of the universe.

I categorically declare first my absolute innocence, second my lack of criminal intent, and third my effusive apologies.

I do not care to listen; obloquy injures my self-esteem and I am skeptical of praise.

You used the word "civilization", which means a set of abstractions, symbols, conventions. Experience tends to be vicarious; emotions are predigested and electrical; ideas become more real than things.

Vance has a genius in evoking the beauty of strangeness, the strangeness of beauty.

Freedom, privileges, options, must constantly be exercised, even at the risk of inconvenience.

Conversation! Supple sentences, with first and second meanings and overtones beyond, outrageous challenges with cleverly planned slip-points, rebuttals of elegant brevity; deceptions and guiles, patient explanations of the obvious, fleeting allusions to the unthinkable. As a preliminary, the conversationalist must gauge the mood, the intelligence and the verbal facility of the company. To this end, a few words of pedantic exposition often prove invaluable.