“You will be required to do wrong no matter where you go. It is the basic condition of life, to be required to violate your own identity. At some time, every creature which lives must do so. It is t...”

“To live is to be haunted.”

“If you think this Universe is bad, you should see some of the others.”

“Maybe each human being lives in a unique world, a private world different from those inhabited and experienced by all other humans. . . If reality differs from person to person, can we speak of rea...”

“Truth, she thought. As terrible as death. But harder to find.”

“Everything is true,' he said. 'Everything anybody has ever thought.''Will you be all right?''I'll be all right,' he said, and thought, And I'm going to die. Both those are true, too.”

“Stop fighting me!" he said, trying to pull on the arm he held.He was in a precarious position himself, straddling the rail as he tried to lean over far enough to get me and actually hold onto me.Le...”

“All gods who receive homage are cruel. All gods dispense suffering without reason. Otherwise they would not be worshipped. Through indiscriminate suffering men know fear and fear is the most divine...”

“Why is it that blood, rather than peace, sells?”

“For you can't hear Irish tunes without knowing you're Irish, and wanting to pound that fact into the floor.”

“Lunch looks grand, Meg. Youve really outdone yourself, James commented, loading his plate. He frowned down at an escaping carrot extending precariously over the plate edge andeased it back with his...”

“Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.”