“A still tongue keeps a wise head.”

“Feel that life likes you just the way you are; otherwise, it would have made you differently.”

“Transgressions are to be understood and corrected, not dwelt upon or agonized over.”

“Je pense, donc je suis...Descartes”

“I keep hoping some guy with 'Ron' or 'Andy' stitched on his pocket and a gas pump in his hand will step up and tell me where I'm headed.”

“Nathan was something that happened to us, as devastating in its way as the burning roof that fell on the family Mwanza; with our fate scarred by hell and brimstone we still had to track our course. And it happened finally by the grace of hell and brimstone that I had to keep moving. I moved, and he stood still.”

“The 2-week delay of her letters had caused me to keep a distrustful eye on Hallie, like a star so many light years away it could have exploded long ago while we still watched its false shine.”