With a little effort, she could get up by herself

Choices are made in brief seconds and paid for in the time that remains

Even though he was afraid to admit it, when he was with her it seemed it was worth doing all those normal things that normal people do.

People took what they wanted, they clutched at coincidences, the few there were, and made a life from them. . . . Choices are made in brief seconds and paid for in the time that remains.

She hadn't chosen him over all the others. The truth was that she hadn't even thought about anyone else.

The love of those we don't love in return settles on the surface and from there quickly evaporates.

Feeling special is the worst kind of cage a person can build for himself.

Why did you choose to stay here?" (...) "I don't know," he said. "It's as if there's more oxygen here.

Mattia's voice no longer stirred anything in his stomach, but he was aware of the idea of him and always would be, as the only true benchmark for everything that had come afterward.

...finally her hands, so light, holding his head still and catching all his thoughts and imprisoning them there, in the space that no longer existed between them.

Mattia thought that he and Alice were like that, twin primes, alone and lost, close but not close enough to really touch each other.

The ultimate goal of humanity is knowledge.

Good architecture is necessary to give programs enough structure to be able to grow large without collapsing into a puddle of confusion.

I've always loved the pomp and circumstance of dressing up; the pagenatry and all of the glamour of Hollywood.

A true Christian is a man who never for a moment forgets what God has done for him in Christ and whose whole comportment and whose activity have their root in the sentiment of gratitude.

It is in human nature to relax, when not compelled by personal advantage or disadvantage.

Promotion should not be more important than accomplishment, or avoiding instability more important than taking the right risk.

Cocktail parties ... are usually not parties at all but mass ceremonials designed to clear up at one great stroke a wealth of obligations.

It is difficult to judge the past by the criteria of the present.

I know there are some voices calling for a punitive deal that punishes Britain. That would be an act of calamitous self-harm for the countries of Europe, and it would not be the act of a friend.

I have read the Bible many times. But after fasting, and being baptized Orthodox, it's like reading a whole new Bible. You see the depth behind the words so much more clearly.