- Why me? - That is a very Earthling question to ask, Mr. Pilgrim. Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is. Have you ever seen bugs trapped in amber? - Yes. - Well, here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why.

That is my principal objection to life, I think: It's too easy, when alive, to make perfectly horrible mistakes.

As a matter of social class Ku Klux Klan would have been regarded as white trash.

I have this disease late at night sometimes, involving alcohol and the telephone.

I'm so sorry - we had this cottage up in Lake Maxinkuckee, in Culver. I've thought so often of the poor Pottawattomies we took this land away from. They must have loved it so.

If I am going to spend eternity visiting this moment and that, I'm grateful that so many of those moments are nice.

She believed, and was entitled to believe, I must say, that all human beings were evil by nature, whether tormentors or victims, or idle standers-by. They could only create meaningless tragedies, she said, since they weren't nearly intelligent enough to accomplish all the good they were meant to do.