--nor had I understood til then how the shameless vanity of utter fools can so strongly determine the fate of others

It's best to give while your hand is still warm.

The book really comes to life in the rewriting.

There’s no remaking reality... Just take it as it comes. Hold your ground and take it as it comes. There’s no other way.

Dreams? If only they had been! But I don't need dreams, Doctor, that's why I hardly have them—because I have this life instead. With me it all happens in broad daylight!

Stop worrying about growing old. And think about growing up.

Everybody who flashed the signs of loyalty he took to be loyal. Everybody who flashed the signs of intelligence he took to be intelligent. And so he had failed to see into his daughter, failed to see into his wife, failed to see into his one and only mistress—probably had never even begun to see into himself