People [are] as much a source of entertainment as they [are] a source of irritation. it keep[s] things balanced.

The man was useless as tits on a bull, but he didn't deserve to die like that.

Why are you always smiling? What do you know?

Even a good place gets to be a rut, especially if you're standing in it alone... Alone and lonely have the same root.

You don't fix a man the way you do a fault in a pipe or a leak in a roof. You take him as he is, Mary Brenna, or you don't take him at all...adjustments can't be all made on one side, darling, else the balance goes off and what's being built just falls down.

Nobody's that naive," she muttered. "Nobody's that guileless." "He's from Nebraska." Peabody scanned her pocket unit. "From where?" "Nebraska." Peabody waived a hand, vaguely west.... "They still grow them pretty guileless in Nebraska. I think it's all that soy and corn.

[Everyone needs] a woman who'll listen, take your side, tell the truth - or not, as you need it. A woman you can count on, no matter what, and who'll love you no matter how much you screw up.