Apparently the Dutch now prided themselves on being better at queues than the English, which was absurd, because standing cheerfully in line was the English national sport.

This is how humans are: We question all our beliefs, except for the ones that we really believe in, and those we never think to question.

He jumped at the Giants face, clambered up his lip and nose, and began to dig in the Giant's eye.

Firequencher raised his hand. "I've been staying out of family conversations. Do I get credit for that?

Valentine had long ago observed that in a society that expected chastity and fidelity, like Lusitania, the adolescents who controlled and channeled their youthful passions were the ones who grew up to be both strong and civilized. Adolescents in such a community who were either too weak to control themselves or too contemptuous of society's norms to try usually ended up being either sheep or wolves- either mindless members of the herd or predators who took what they could and gave nothing.

Humanity does not ask to be happy.It merely asks us to be brilliant on its behalf. Survival first, and then happiness as we can manage it... Take what pleasure you can in the interstices of your work, , but your work is first, learning first, winning is everything because without it there is nothing.

We're all trying to decide whether your scores up there are a miracle or a mistake." "A habit.