“Modern allopathic medicine is the only major science stuck in the pre-Einstein era.”

“To restrict or legalize abortion, to allow or forbid gay marriage, a legislator would need to write and pass a law, get it signed by the president or a governor, and perhaps override a veto. A Supreme Court justice need only persuade four other people. If he or she is not internally constrained by the authority of a text, he or she is not constrained.”

“The rational arguments against suicide are compelling. It causes intense suffering for loved ones that few would intend in their right mind. It is not a valid expression of autonomy or choice because it ends all autonomy and choice. It represents the tyranny of one moment of hopelessness over every future moment of possibility.”

“Freedom requires virtues it does not produce and may even help undermine.”

“Writers often have the cleanest windows, floors, fridges and toilets, the most up-to-date filing system or the best record for returning calls or e-mails because, in the moment, just about any task seems more palatable than sitting down to write.” (p.136)”

“Ex-act-ly, pre-cisely: with your usual acuteness, you have hit the nail straight on the head.”

“But I don't mean to flatter you: if you are cast in a different mould to the majority, it is no merit of yours: Nature did it.”