A good reputation is something that must be earned, yet can never be bought.

...it was more like bleeding than crying.

And I wonder if there is really any point to what I'm doing, or what I'm supposed to make of a world where a man can get rich playing "let's pretend

It's a tough life if you don't weaken.

Seven, Richie thought. That's the magic number. There has to be seven of us. That's the way it's supposed to be.

God and the afterlife and all that is certainly a subject that's interested me, and I think it interests me more the older that I get.

A cat won't curry favor even if it's in their best interests to do so. A cat can't be a hypocrite. If more preachers were like cats, this would be a more religious country.