I suppose it's everyone's fate to be reduced to quaintness by those younger than themselves.

Why are you so interested in amoebas?" "Oh, they're immortal," he said, "and sort of shapeless and flexible. Being a person is getting too complicated.

Somebody has been a complete ratbag all their life and they've gotten away with it, and they die happy and rich, we so much want to believe that they're going off to the halls of judgment, that their heart will be weighed against the feather of truth, that it will be heavy with sin and it will be eaten by a crocodile. It's almost essential to our well-being to have a fallback position like that. It may appear as if you've gotten away with it, but you'll pay for it later.

Extreme good, extreme evil: the abilities required are similar.

You can't keep a cool head when you're drowning in love. You just trash around a lot and scream, and wear yourself out.

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

Love is giving, marriage is buying and selling. You can't put love into a contract.