Wars happen because the ones who start them think they can win.

The answers you get from literature depend on the questions you pose.

There is more than one kind of freedom," said Aunt Lydia. "Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don't underrate it.

I enjoyed teaching. I liked the students. Having to formulate my ideas about literature made them clearer. I did not particularly enjoy the more bureaucratic aspects of the job. However, if you are teaching fervently, your energy and time are used up at a great rate.

I felt white, drained of blood, cared for, purified. Peaceful.

Every habit he's ever had is still there in his body, lying dormant like flowers in the desert. Given the right conditions, all his old addictions would burst into full and luxuriant bloom.

I walk away from him. It's enormously pleasing to me, this walking away. It's like being able to make people appear and vanish, at will.