There was no telling what people might find out once they felt free to ask whatever questions they wanted to.

mankind is resilient: the atrocities that horrified us a week ago become acceptable tomorrow.

I don't think the 'what' distinguishes a good novel from a bad one but rather the 'how.'

Everything passes. (That's what makes it endurable.)

To Yossarian, the idea of pennants as prizes was absurd. No money went with them, no class privileges. Like Olympic medals and tennis trophies, all they signified was that the owner had done something of no benefit to anyone more capably than everyone else.

Catch-22 did not exist, he was positive of that, but it made no difference. What did matter was that everyone thought it existed, and that was much worse, for there was no object or text to ridicule or refute, to accuse, criticize, attack, amend, hate, revile, spit at, rip to shreds, trample upon or burn up.

I couldn't see much point in tying myself down to a middle-aged woman with four children, even though the woman was my wife and the children were my own.