The oyster was an animal worthy of New Orleans, as mysterious and private and beautiful as the city itself. If one could accept that oysters build their houses out of their lives, one could imagine the same of New Orleans, whose houses were similarly and resolutely shuttered against an outside world that could never be trusted to show proper sensitivity toward the oozing delicacies within.
Tom RobbinsIf you take any activity, any art, any discipline, any skill-take it and push it as far as it will go, push it beyond where it has ever been before, push it to the wildest edges of edges, then you force it into the realm of magic.
Tom RobbinsOh God, are there so many of them in our land! Students who canโt be happy until theyโve graduated, servicemen who canโt be happy until they are discharged, single folks who canโt be happy until theyโve found a mate, workers who canโt be happy until theyโve retired, adolescents who arenโt happy until theyโre grown, ill people who arenโt happy until theyโre well, failures who arenโt happy until they succeed, restless who canโt wait until they get out of town, and in most cases, vice versa, people waiting, waiting for the world to begin.
Tom RobbinsAs long as a population can be induced to believe in a supernatural hereafter, it can be oppressed and controlled. People will put up with all sorts of tyranny, poverty, and painful treatment if they're convinced that they'll eventually escape to some resort in the sky where lifeguards are superfluous and the pool never closes. Moreover, the faithful are usually willing to risk their skins in whatever military adventure their government may currently be promoting.
Tom Robbins