“He wasn't good with this sort of thing - with the back-and-forth dance between man and woman. He wasn't even sure if they were dancing, or if she was merely being polite.”

“Miranda shook her head slowly. 'Good heavens. That's quite an act you put on.'He drew himself up haughtily. 'I beg your pardon.''An act,' Miranda repeated. 'Stand as tall as you like, and frown at ...”

“I'm not broken,' he repeated. 'Although at the moment . . . ' This was what came of violating the sentimentality quota. Everything he kept bottled inside him came out. He shut his eyes and pinched ...”

“I assumed I would be better off telling you about this, rather than waiting for the entire thing to blow up in my face.”

“The dog looked up in entreaty. Liquid brown eyes begged: Take me with you. Ill be good. Oh, the lies that dogs told.”

“Dont ever let desperation take the seat of inspiration in you! Always live inspired no matter what! For though something might be wrong somewhere, something is always right somewhere! If you have l...”

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with th...”

“On the one hand you had people constantly fighting Hell; on the other, you had people constantly fighting Hell on earth.”

“So many words get lost. They leave the mouth and lose their courage, wandering aimlessly until they are swept into the gutter like dead leaves. On rainy days, you can hear their chorus rushing past...”

“You can listen to silence, Reuven. I've begun to realize that you can listen to silence and learn from it. It has a quality and a dimension all its own. It talks to me sometimes. I feel myself aliv...”

“Whoever is going to listen to the philosophers needs a considerable practice in listening.”

“So, let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look over not only ourselves, but each other.”

“We are fascinated, all of us, by the implacable otherness of others. And we wish to penetrate by hypothesis, by daydream, by scientific investigation those leaden walls that encase the human spirit...”

“The trick is that as long as you know who you are and what makes you happy, it doesn't matter how others see you.”