we can forgive anything as long as it isn't done to us.

Daniel supposed he had a secret life. Most people did; it was hardly possible to live without one.

gossip ... was like any other commodity in the marketplace. You received it only if you had something of value to give.

If our sex life were determined by our first youthful experiments, most of the world would be doomed to celibacy. In no area of human experience are human beings more convinced that something better can be had only if they persevere.

Of all the things that human beings did together, the sexual act was the one with the most various of reasons.

If all power corrupts, then a doctor, who literally holds life and death in his hands, must be at particular risk.

I don't want anyone to look to me, not for protection, not for happiness, not for love, not for anything.