Our days are so few, our existences so complicated. As long as we're breathing we shouldn't further complicate our lives.

History never seems to teach us any lessons. But that is no reason to give up.

Facts are almost irrelevant to most people. We make decisions based on emotion and then justify them later with whatever facts we can scrounge up in our defense.

We are all born with a powerful herd instinct and it can force otherwise rational people to act in inexplicable ways.

Our time here on the earth is short, and our chance to make a difference is tiny. For me the grinding blocks of history came together in such a way that I was able to take what fragile defense I had and hold in place for seventy-six days. If I was able to give much it was only because I had some useful things from my life to give. I am a hotel manager...my job never changed, even in a sea of fire.

Our days are so few, our existences so complicated. As long as we're breathing we shouldn't further complicate our lives.

This is why I say that the individual's most potent weapon is a stubborn belief in the triumph of common decency.