Rabo Karabekian: I'm in the middle of a sentence. Circe Berman: Who isn't?.

I don't know what's going on, and I'm probably not smart enough to understand if somebody was to explain it to me. All I know is we're being tested somehow, by somebody or some thing a whole lot smarter than us, and all I can do is be friendly and keep calm and try and have a nice time till it's over.

Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let the pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness. Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place.

. . . but the Universe is an awfully big place. There is room enough for an awful lot of people to be right about things and still not agree.

Son,' my father said to me, 'someday this will all be yours.

Anyone unable to understand how useful religion can be founded on lies will not understand this book either.

There is a riddle about a man who is locked in a room with nothing but a bed and a calendar, and the question is: How does he survive? The answer is: He eats dates from the calendar and drinks from the springs of the bed.