the smell of lilacs crept poignantly into the room like a remembered spring.

Perfect young men don't get murdered, they don't even get born.

I didn't mind giving up carnality, jewelry and red meat in return for comradeship and an afterlife.

Violence is the instinctive response to fear.

If you go around looking for accidents, asking for them, they can't be called accidents any more.

The day will probably come when you can tell everything about a person from his dreams except his age and weight.

Private problems don't constitute an excuse for bad manners.