What he has in addition is pure empathy and projection,” Dr. Bloom said. “He can assume your point of view, or mine – and maybe some other points of view that scare and sicken him. It’s an uncomfortable gift, Jack. Perception’s a tool that’s pointed on both ends.

Hannibal at eighteen was rooting for Mephistopheles and contemptuous of Faust, but he only half-listened to the climax. He was watching and breathing Lady Murasaki...

Intense fear comes in waves; the body can't stand it for long at a time.

It's hard to have anything isn't it? Rare to get it, hard to keep it. This is a damn slippery planet.

There is a common emotion we all recognize and have not yet named -- the happy anticipation of being able to feel contempt.

One can only see what one observes, and one observes only things which are already in the mind.

He was numb except for dreading the loss of numbness.