There are the stars--doing their old, old crisscross journeys in the sky. Scholars haven't settled the matter yet, but they seem to think there are no living beings out there. Just chalk... or fire. Only this one is straining away, straining away all the time to make something of itself. Strain's so bad that every sixteen hours everybody lies down and gets a rest.

Pride, avarice, and envy are in every home.

I didn't marry you because you were perfect. I didn't even marry you because I loved you. I married you because you gave me a promise. That promise made up for your faults. And the promise I gave you made up for mine. Two imperfect people got married and it was the promise that made the marriage. And when our children were growing up, it wasn't a house that protected them; and it wasn't our love that protected them--it was that promise.

Being employed is like being loved: you know that somebody's thinking about you the whole time.

The more decisions that you are forced to make alone, the more you are aware of your freedom to choose.

Those who are silent, self-effacing and attentive become the recipients of confidences.

When you're at war, you think about a better life; when you're at peace you think about a more comfortable one.