And so began something that had not quite begun and would not soon end, with many people in many places moving off in directions and on missions which they all mistakenly thought they understood. That was just as well. The future was too fearful for contemplation, and beyond the expected, illusory finish lines were things fated by the decisions made this morning -- and, once decided, best unseen.

Nothing is as real as a dream. The world can change around you, but your dream will not... Responsibilities need not erase it. Duties need not obscure it... Because the dream is within you. No one can take your dream away.

Privacy and loneliness were the traditional luxuries accorded to a skipper.

If you want to kick the tiger in his ass you'd better have a plan for dealing with his teeth

Information, knowledge, is power. If you can control information, you can control people.

What the government is good at is collecting taxes, taking away your freedoms and killing people. It's not good at much else.

Anti-Catholicism is the last respectable prejudice. You can't hate black people anymore, of course, and you can't hate homosexuals anymore, but you can hate all the Catholics you want.