“Humans are different in private than in the presence of others. While the private persona merges into the social persona in varying degrees, the union is never complete. Something is always held back.”

“In adverse circumstances, every creature becomes something else, evolving or devolving. What makes us human is that we know what we once were, and, let us hope, we remember how to change back.”

“Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.”

“My Sihaya,’ he said as he held her, ‘I have loved you for five thousand years.”

“We are animals, yet are expected to be so much more. Although honor requires us to make altruistic decisions, even acting for the benefit of other people keeps coming back to self-interest, no matter how much one attempts to conceal it.”

“Discovery is dangerous . . . but so is life. A man unwilling to take risk is doomed never to learn, never to grow, never to live.”

“Love is the highest achievement to which any human may aspire. It is an emotion that encompasses the full depth of heart, mind, and soul.”