Satanic Verses is a despicable book that could not have been written by a person who wished to behave decently and responsibly.

So I want to ask you a hypothetical question. My favorite kind. Next to rhetorical ones. I can nap equally well through either kind.

Nobody ever completely means what they say. Even when they think they're telling the truth, there's always something hidden behind their words.

I always tell the truth about what I’m selling, and then nobody buys it.

Mom," said Peter, "nobody thinks you're a lackwit, if that's what you're worried about." Lackwit? In what musty drawer of some dead English professor's dust-covered desk did you find that word? I assure you that never in my worst nightmares did I ever suppose that I was a lackwit.

You want to make me the best soldier possible. Go down and look at the standings. Look at the all-time standings. So far you're doing an excellent job with me. Congratulations. Now when are you going to put me up against a good army?

When you really know somebody you can’t hate them. Or maybe it’s just that you can’t really know them until you stop hating them.