“one could not attain greater personal excellence without also paving the way for everyone else in society to attain it as well.”

“Alexandros points to the bronze sculpture of Socrates. "His society didn't collapse because of an outside aggressor. It collapsed from within, from the complete breakdown of communication between citizens, and the breakdown of loving sentiment for one another. They ganged up and got rid of Socrates because he was an uncomfortable reminder of the glory days of ancient Athens, when /demokratia/--'people power'--reigned and citizens worked toward a greater good. He epitomized the fact that you're meant to stay open to all views, to all human experiences, because that's how you deepen your love for people and of wisdom. That amazing man sacrificed his life in the name of classic Athenian values of excellence and honor and compassion, so one day they might live on. And they did, here in America, for more than two centuries. I'm worried my beloved America is becoming as loveless as ancient Athens in its days of decline.”

“Everyone is happier if they have someone else to look down on, as well as someone to look up to, especially if they resent both.”

“He considered her ruthless, in his moments of pain, but also in moments of happiness, experienced mere feet from her but bound right wrist to left ankle by her rules: nothing could evolve, nothing could be consummated, nothing repressed could surface, nothing previously accepted could be ignored. One must not speak of it, in case one could no longer sing of it. Instead, she only kept directing his attention to the wondrously charged air they could tame and make dance between them.”

“I am a fearful person who likes to control everything - I mean everything. How otehr people feel, what is going to happen next year, how to keep everyone happy and liking me.”

“What I wasn't prepared for was the realization that an adopted person is always an adopted person and that there will always be passages throughout life to remind one of that fact. I will never not be an adopted person, and somehow that still takes me by surprise.”

“I dont care if you have the smallest part to do with my life or the largest, I love everyone I've ever met, and if you don't like me i still respect you as a person rather than hate you for what you believe in.”