“In truth, the degree of anyone's success depends on how often they can say the word yes and hear the word no.”

“In the West "yes" is "yes" and "no" is "no." But when Arabs hear the word "no" from an American they often take it as an insult. That is because Arabs don't say the word "no" directly. Very often they say "in Shaalah" when they mean "no." In dealing with Westerners, an Arab may say "yes' when they really don't mean it, and that gets them in a lot of trouble with Westerners.”

“If you say a word, it leaps out and becomes the truth. I love you. I believe it. I believe I am loveable. How can something as fragile as a word build a whole world?”

“Love is a cheap word. Anyone can say it, and few truly know what it means.”

“But in my head I can hear Haymitch's smug, if slightly exasperated, words: "Yes, that's what I'm looking for, sweetheart.”

“Yes, if you believed in words, if you lived by words, you had better be careful which words you say and how you say them. You had better be careful what you look up, which words, which names. Jane Clifford, in The Odd Woman”