“From the ground, we stand; From our ships, we live; By the stars, we hope. —Exodan proverb”

“What a bog and labyrinth the human essence is... We are all overbrained and overemotioned.”

“She had always been an unashamed reader of novels.”

“I wonder about others like me, who seem totally fine on the outside but are rotting on the inside, where the rot is this vague state of being not-fine and not-devastated at the same time.”

“I don't need no Smith and Wesson, man, I got Merriam and Webster.”

“There is a timbre of voice that comes from not being heard and knowing / you are not being heard / noticed only by others / not heard for the same reason.”

“What is needed, however, isn't just that people working together be nice to each other. It is discipline. Discipline is hard--harder than trustworthiness and skill and perhaps even than selflessness. We are by nature flawed and inconstant creatures. We can't even keep from snacking between meals. We are not built for discipline. We are built for novelty and excitement, not for careful attention to detail. Discipline is something we have to work at.”

“Denying pleasure is equally detrimental as being overly attached.”