“Death was not the scariest thing out there; no, the denial of it could be far worse.”

“She seemed like the kind of woman who would fall in love with the sky.”

“Maybe that was why the French called orgasms las petites morts: because the things that bring us passion tend to slip past our defenses, to creep insidiously into every facet of our consciousnesses...”

“Nothing is as deadly as the love of a powerful man.”

“It's true what they say, you know. First fuck. First love. First kill. You never forget your first.”

“Fuck, Christina.Yes, fuck Christina. I think she'd like that.”

“Denna is a wild thing," I explained. "Like a hind or a summer storm. If a storm blows down your house, or breaks a tree, you don't say the storm was mean. It was cruel. It acted according to its na...”

“Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.”

“Cruelty and fear shake hands together. An unfulfilled vocation drains the color from a man's entire existence.”

“That unique Moscow mix of tackiness and menace. One time I see a poster advertising a new property development that captures the tone nicely. Got up in the style of Nazi propaganda, it shows two Ge...”

“There's a strong message of divine righteousness in dictatorships. Every megalomaniac has to believe his actions are sanctioned by God.”

“It's going to be a hard time; we can count on that. But with all the misery, what opportunities to show mercy and brotherly love in our land, which has sinned so greatly against love. And patience!...”

“Our power knows no limits, yet we cannot find food for a starving child, or a home for a refugee. Our knowledge is without measure and we build the weapons that will destroy us. We live on the edge...”

“All our prayers can't keep a single leaf from falling.”