He hated games they made the world look too simple. Chess, in particular, had always annoyed him. It was the dumb way the pawns went off and slaughtered their fellow pawns while the king lounged about doing nothing. If only the pawns would've united ... the whole board could've been a republic in about a dozen moves.

Do you think it's possible for an entire nation to be insane?

Perhaps the magic would last, perhaps it wouldn't. But then again, what does?

WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HADN'T SAVED HIM? "Yes! The sun would have risen just the same, yes?" NO "Oh, come on. You can't expect me to believe that. It's an astronomical fact." THE SUN WOULD NOT HAVE RISEN. ... "Really? Then what would have happened, pray?" A MERE BALL OF FLAMING GAS WOULD HAVE ILLUMINATED THE WORLD.

Banana daiquiris aren't knock-'em-back-by-the-flagon.

The people who really run organizations are usually found several levels down, where it is still possible to get things done.

She was a beefy young woman and, whatever piece of music she was playing, it was definitely losing.