“Ignorance is an underrated virtue, my lord.”

“It is laughable how often good manners interfere with my survival.”

“Alone with my wine and my misery, I was convinced that life was composed of a string of “if only’s” leading from one self-inflicted bungle to the next until at some point, one’s final iteration of the excuse became one’s final utterance, and one expired.”

“Since my arrival in Rome, I have had many opportunities to wonder if compassion’s opposite is cruelty, or to reflect whether or not indifference would serve as a better black to its white.”

“Pride costs nothing, yet it is especially precious when it can be “purchased” at someone else’s expense.”

“One has to be at least as ancient as I am now to see that if you try to make sense of life, if you look for patterns and meaning, not only are you bound to be disappointed, you are likely to waste a good deal of precious time.”

“One can get past just about anything, given enough time, even when one shouldn’t.”