I felt from the start that America was not likely to relinquish lightly positions established at the cost of such sacrifices, and I pressed the view that a high degree of preparation and willingness to make sacrifices would be necessary on our side, but everybody here always persists in facile optimism until the very worst actually happens.

Even a burglar hesitates to go back for more.

I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.

The fate of the Empire rests on this enterprise. Every man must devote himself totally to the task in hand.

I wonder what Heaven must think of the people down here on this small black speck in the universe that is earth, or of all their talk about the last few years-which are no more than a flash compared with eternity-being 'a time of emergency." It's really ridiculous.

Today, as chief Of the guardians of the seas Of the land of the dawn, I gaze up with awe At the rising sun!

I try to let go of the intellect and just tell the story. I only read the page I have in front of me on the screen. Then when the whole story is told, I print it, wait a week and read it.

“He said that knowledge was of little use without wisdom, and that there was no wisdom without spirituality, and that true spirituality always included service to others. As he explained many times, the essence of a good physician consisted of a capacity for compassion and a sense of the ethical, without which qualities the sacred art of healing degenerated into simple charlatanism.” 

“Pain is unavoidable, but suffering is optional.” 

“The advantage of being lovers is that we have to work hard at our relationship, because everything conspires to drive us apart. Our decision to be together has to be renewed again and again; that keeps us on our toes.” 

“Writing is like riding a bicycle: you don’t forget how, even if you go for years without doing it.” 

“Sometimes I have these premonitions and I don't forget them, so I will be prepared when they happen.” 

“This is the kind of detail that is forbidden in literature; in a book, no one would dare combine a full moon with Frank Sinatra. The problem with fiction is that it must seem credible, while reality seldom is.” 

“Seated by her side in the narrow cabin, pressing cold compresses to her forehead and holding her while she vomited, he felt profoundly happy....” 

“Heroism is a badly remunerated occupation, and often it leads to an early end, which is why it appeals to fanatics or persons with an unhealthy fascination with death. ” 

“But I don't want more things than I need, either.” 

“I have the idea that we grandmothers are meant to play the part of protective witches; we must watch over younger women, children, community and also, why not? this mistreated planet, the victim of such unrelenting desecration.” 

“He was not oppressed by a crowd because in the midst of all the hullabaloo he always found a quiet place for his soul. ” 

“I try desperately to conquer the transitory nature of my existence, to trap moments before they evenesce, to untangle the confusion of my past. Every instant disappears in a breath and immediately becomes the past; reality is ephemeral and changing, pure longing.” 

“It’s easy to judge others when we are not going through the same thing.” 

“There is room in the human heart for all the divinities.” 

“My worst flaw is that I tell secrets, my own and everybody else's. ” 

“That was a good time in my life, in spite of having the sensation of floating on a cloud, surrounded by both lies and things left unspoken. Occasionally I thought I glimpsed the truth, but soon found myself once again lost in a forest of ambiguities.” 

“Reading is like looking through several windows which open to an infinite landscape....For me life without reading would be like being in prison, it would be as if my spirit were in a straightjacket; life would be a very dark and narrow place.”