Both triumph and disaster are impostors.

Politicians. Little Tin Gods on Wheels.

One half of my head, from the top of my skull to the cleft of my jaw, hammers, bangs, sizzles while the other half, serene and content, looks on at the agony next door.

Not getting what you want either means you don't want it enough, or you have been dealing too long with the price you have to pay.

A brave heart and a courteous tongue. They shall carry thee far through the jungle, Manling.

Call a truce, then, to our labors - let us feast with friends and neighbors, and be merry as the custom of our caste; for if ''faint and forced the laughter,'' and if sadness follow after, we are richer by one mocking Christmas past.

God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.