There are plenty of reasons not to put up with the world as it is, and if the book has any kind of message, I suppose that's it.

Such is our need to shower blame on some distant entity when it is we who lack the courage to face up to what is there before us.

That it's possible not to see a lie even when it's in front of us.

Perfect moments, especially when they verge on the sublime have the grave disadvantage of being very short lived, which in fact, being obvious, we would not need to mention were it not that they have a still greater disadvantage, which is that we do not know what to do once they are over.

There are times when it is best to be content with what one has, so as not to lose everything.

I always ask two questions: How many countries have military bases in the United States? And in how many countries does the United States not have military bases?

anyone who gets up early by inclination or has been forced to rise early out of necessity finds it intolerable that others should go on sleeping soundly