“There is no division nor subtraction in the heart-arithmetic of a good mother. There are only addition and multiplication.”

“Life isn't just addition and subtraction. There's also the accumulation, the multiplication, of loss, of failure.”

“Had my life increased, or merely added to itself? There had been addition and subtraction in my life, but how much multiplication?”

“He's teaching her arithmetic,He said it was his mission,He kissed her once and said,"Now that's addition."And as he added smack by smackIn silent satisfaction,She sweetly gave the kisses back and said,"Now that's subtraction."Then he kissed her, she kissed him,Without an explanation,And both together smiled and said,"That's multiplication."Then Dad appeared upon the scene andMade a quick decision.He kicked that kid three blocks away And said, "That's long division!”

“Mystical additions and subtractions always come out the way you want.”

“No matter how limited their powers of reason might have been. still they must have understood that living like that was just murder, a capital crime - except it was slow, day-by-day murder. The government (or humanity) could not permit capital punishment for one man, but they permitted the murder of millions a little at a time. To kill one man - that is, to subtract 50 years from the sum of all human lives - that was a crime; but to subtract from the sum of all human lives 50,000,000 years - that was not a crime! No, really, isn't it funny? This problem in moral math could be solved in half a minute by any ten-year-old Number today, but they couldn't solve it. All their Kant's together couldn't solve it (because it never occurred to one of their Kant's to construct a system of scientific ethics - that is, one based on subtraction, addition, division, and multiplication).”