"The first phase of the Muslim conquest of North India was a splendid ghazi adventure of looting, shooting, and smashing up the gods of Hindu idolators. The new kings of Dehli, however, imposed civil order on the conquered areas and created a structure of despotism designed to tax rather than slaughter the native peasantry."

"I’m here tonight appearing before you as a well individual, free of the street poison that put me into the kind of position where I brutalized and exploited our Black queens. You have to have a realization that when you exploit your own kind … you are, in effect, counterrevolutionary; that you are hobbling and crippling the struggle of Black people for freedom and dignity."

"Chumps prefer a beautiful lie to an ugly truth."

"It’s hard to square an emotional debt."

"Mrs. Jenkins, who had disappeared to “freshen up,” at last made her grand entrance. She swept onto the patio like a cross between a parrot and a wedding cake."

"I attempted to explain and he attempted to understand, but the truth fell somewhere between us."

"“Why, we’ll do missionary work for it natcherly,” Drake said, “spreadin’ enlightenment to anybody too dumb to listen, until we have ultimately converted all those souls sufferin’ from excess wealth—” “Yep,” Kruger said. “We’ll give ’em a choice. They can convert from rich to poor or from alive to dead.”"

"You do comprehend, do you not, that symbolically is not the same as fillingly?"

"Here we were about to be sacrificed to something ancient and alien that looked like a giant lizard and had the zealousness of a Jesuit missionary and the scruples of a railway company lawyer. That beast was not going to be happy when it learned that its so-called advanced knowledge was outdated by several thousand years."

"When the ambush came, he was the one who knocked me down and threw himself on top of me, taking my share of the bullets and frags. Dying, his body twitched on top of me, and I hesitate to say it, but it was as if he were making love to me. And I guess he was, at that."

"While it was not bloodthirsty—for human blood anyway—it didn’t discourage bloodthirsty practices: its attitude was aloof, as befitted its station, the god who couldn’t be bothered with the petty problems of its worshipers."

"William gave me a look that said it was too bad I was brain-damaged."

"Fortunately, he was the sort of person who, when he demanded an explanation, listened to it."

"We must draw the line somewhere. Observance of good form is necessary to the orderly completion of lessons. Orderly completion of lessons leads to the orderly growth of society."

"But promises were being broken all around. Most of us in Nam were the children of the last war that was ever supposed to be fought anywhere in the world. All of the baby boys were promised that they would grow up and become successful and all of the baby girls were promised that someday their princes would come. Then along came the goddamn government and bingo, it sent the princes off to battle communism and issued them the right to hate anyone not in their unit. Then it sent them home in body bags, or with their handsome faces melted or blown away, their bodies prematurely aged with disease or terrible wounds, and their idealistic souls turned into sewers. And those were the survivors."

"I was about a foot farther down the wall when I heard a hoarse hacking and a slimy projectile slapped the back of my head. I whirled. Purdy’s camel regarded me with an expression similar to that I have seen on various churchwomen bent on wrecking one’s reputation—sanctimonious malice."

""You may have noticed that in most crucifixions the hands point to, say, a quarter to three, or ten till two at the earliest, while the feet are at six. On this watch face, Jesus is on the cross, as you see there, and the arms revolve to indicate the time". (Ch. 25)"

"I don’t think I've ever made up anything, everything has happened. Nothing's made up. You don't have to make anything up in this world."

"Some days you go to your office and you're the only one who shows up, none of the characters show up, and you sit there by yourself, feeling like an idiot. And some days everybody shows up ready to work. You have to show up at your office every day. If an idea comes by, you want to be there to get it in."

"I couldn't help but feel that to call him out on this well-intentioned extravagance, to embarrass him, was sort of unnecessary and cruel—not unlike informing Blanche Dubois that her arms looked flabby, her hair dry, and that she was dancing the polka dangerously close to the lamplight."

"Sal Mineos were always talking in spongy voices and making comments that were as vague as the outline of an angora sweater."

"“You mean you just let him go?” “What did you want me to do?” I snapped. “Castrate him on the spot? Execute him?” “Both. Both is good.”"

"“It’s not going to come to that,” I said. “Nobody ever believes it will,” so the driver. “That’s why it does.”"

"You don’t do what’s right because you know it will work out. You do it because you know it’s right."

"Human ignorance has never needed help."

"Hon, nobody eats fried chicken because it’s good for them."

"This would be an excellent time for you to shut up."

"Judge not, lest ye be punched in the face for being a self-righteous prick."

"You want to know if it was worth it. I can’t answer that, Isaac. We can know what was, but not what might have been."

"“Damn, Boss. See, this is why everyone likes it better when you’re away on your road trips.” “Don’t call me Boss. Also, staff meeting upstairs in the Wheeler room in 30 minutes.” “That’s cold, Boss. What did we do to deserve that?” “Keep it up, and I’ll make you sit through a PowerPoint presentation.” He raised his hands in surrender. “Cruel and unusual punishment.”"

"If there ever comes a day when I deliberately embrace ignorance, I’ll have lived one day too long."

"I knew the one thing that truly mattered. I knew it could be done."

"History is the world’s most egotistical gossip."

"The nice thing about people like Jellybean Man was that I knew exactly where I stood. There was no subtlety, no subterfuge or second-guessing. It was a refreshing change from talking to politicians."

"Change is a difficult, often violent process, both for individuals and for whole species. The more rapidly change, the uglier the conflict."

"“Your fear is all too human. Accept it, but as you walk this path, let your hope guide you.” “And what if hope guides me off the edge of a cliff?” “I said let hope guide you. I never said stop paying attention to where you’re going.”"

"“Hey, I’m just playing devil’s advocate.” “Since when did the devil need your help?”"

"“What are you doing?” asked Nicola. “Making sure I know what I’m doing.” “Better late than never,” Lena murmured."

"“This is the worst excess of conjecture and wishful thinking,” snapped Jackson. “We don’t know if Isaac is capable of any of this.” “He believes he is,” said Bi Wei. “I once met a woman who believed she was abducted by aliens who looked like the Teletubbies,” Jackson shot back. “That doesn’t make it true.”"

"In short, Fahrenheit 451 was never meant to be an instruction manual."

"Young Isaac had dreamed of fame. Young Isaac was an idiot."

"Modern fantasy is little more than juvenile escapism and anachronistic longing for a time that never existed. I’ve never understood the appeal."

"Those forced to make impossible choices are rarely loved. If it’s approval and reputation you care about, then you have no place here."

"The hotel offered a complimentary continental breakfast. My first thought upon seeing it was rather less than complimentary."

"We all know Pastor Tom Briggs is a walking skidmark in a bad suit, and his congregation is a stain on Christians everywhere…. Freedom of speech is easy when it’s speech we approve of. The true test of freedom is what we do when people like Briggs and his ilk mount their soapboxes and and show their asses to the world. Fortunately, freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom from mockery and other consequences."

"I had said before that all stories were magic. It had never occurred to me that all magic was stories."

"“That’s…that’s magic.” “Pretty cool, isn’t it? If I had more time, I’d tell you how it worked.” “He would,” Lena said. “Even if you ask him to stop.”"

"“Are you a doctor?” “Better. I’m a librarian.”"

"She didn’t argue. That, more than anything else, told me she hadn’t fully recovered from everything she’d been through. A year ago, she would have argued with me on principle, secure in her teenage sense of immortality and invulnerability."

"Copper River was a small, tightly knit town. If gossip was a competitive sport, we’d have been sending teams to the Olympics and bringing back gold."