“The world belongs to us, the wise ones, we declare...will we be pirates or captains, slumlords or godparents of time? Will we burn the furniture for heat or be good tenants? ”

“The world doesn't belong to us, we belong to it. Always have, always will. We belong to the world. We belong to the community of life on this planet--it doesn't belong to us. We got confused about that, now it's time to set the record straight”

“We are the wise.Do not envy us—We who are too wise to draw nearthe fireLest we get burned;We who are too wise to loveLest love should vanish and we behurt.We are the wise.Do not envy us our wisdom—We who are too wise to liveLest we should die.”

“Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates.”

“If the world was made for us, then it BELONGS to us and we can do what we damn well please with it.”

“We must remember that nothing in this world really belongs to us. At best, we are merely borrowers.”