Goodnight you princes of Maine, you kings of New England.

What do Americans know about morality? They don't want their presidents to have penises but they don't mind if their presidents covertly arrange to support the Nicaraguan rebel forces after Congress has restricted such aid; they don't want their presidents to deceive their wives but they don't mind if their presidents deceive Congress- lie to the people and violate the people's constitution!

… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.

Being afraid you'll look like a coward is the worst reason for doing anything.

The powerful wind swept his hair away from his face; he leaned his chest into the wind, as if he stood on the deck of a ship heading into the wind, slicing through the waves of an ocean he’d not yet seen.

Lilly was not crazy. She left a serious suicide note. 'Sorry,' said the note. 'Just not big enough.

It's a no-win argument - that business of what we're born with and what our environment does to us. And it's a boring argument, because it simplifies the mysteries that attend both our birth and our growth.