I recommend limiting one's involvement in other people's lives to a pleasantly scant minimum.

Fear and hatred do not seem to find expression in tears.

One of the special beauties of America is that it is the only country in the world where you are not advised to learn the language before entering. Before I ever set out for the United States, I asked a friend if I should study American. His answer was unequivocal. "On no account," he said. "The more English you sound, the more likely you are to be believed."

Neither look forward where there is doubt nor backward where there is regret. Look inward and ask not if there is anything outside you want, but whether there is anything inside that you have not yet unpacked.

I take it to be axiomatic that people are revolted by witnessing the shameless gratification of an appetite they do not share.

Vienna is cold, and dark, and sad. It is laid out as though for a royal parade; the streets are wide and they're flanked by monumental buildings, decorated with the faces of angry gods. And on the roof are statues of national heroes, wielding weapons of destruction.

The court was not previously aware of the prisoner's many accomplishments. In view of these, we see fit to impose the death penalty.