...And in freedom, most people find sin.

The urge to make art or contemplate philosophy does not go away when you are sick. Those urges just become transfigured by illness.

This is the fear that made fish crawl out onto dry land and evolve lungs, the fear that teaches us to run, the fear that makes us bury our dead.

You are a side effect," Van Houten continued, "of an evolutionary process that cares little for individual lives. You are a failed experiment in mutation.

There was quite a lot of competitiveness about it, with everybody wanting to beat not only cancer itself, but also the other people in the room. Like, I realize that this is irrational, but when they tell you that you have, say, a 20 percent chance of living five years, the math kicks in and you figure that’s one in five . . . so you look around and think, as any healthy person would: I gotta outlast four of these bastards.

We don't suffer from a shortage of metaphors . . . But you have to be careful which metaphor you choose, because it matters.

You're not a little kid anymore. You need to make friends, get out of the house, and live your life.