“All evil and good is petty before Nature. Personally, we take comfort from this, that there is a universe to admire that cannot be twisted to villainy or good, but which simply is.”

“He claimed that nearby gun thunder cleared the mind - but most everybody else agreed it made you daft.”

“Most civilizations had more fiction than they did real history.”

“Intelligence is the handmaiden of flexibility and change.”

“The essence of real creativity is a certain playfulness, a flitting from idea to idea without getting bogged down by fixated demands. Of course, you dont always get what you thought you were asking...”

“Sometimes the biggest disasters aren't noticed at all - no one's around to write horror stories.”

“What's talent but the ability to get away with something?”

“When one treats people with benevolence, justice, and righteoousness, and reposes confidence in them, the army will be united in mind and all will be happy to serve their leaders'.”

“Never send a battalion to take a hill if a regiment is available.”

“Camouflage doesn't help when the other guy is willing to defoliate the whole jungle.”