“I’ll tell you one thing I know for sure,” he’d said. “You only have one life. Whatever you decide to do, you should try and be happy. Don’t be afraid to take risks.”

“New York loves expanse. It grows upward and spreads its tentacles outward, the island spilling into adjoining lands through its many bridges and tunnels. A person given to idleness, as Parvis has come to think of himself, must move about for the sake of moving, if only to fit into the general scheme of things - an electron obeying the current. Tantamount to movement, he has come to realize, is self-reliance, a fact reflected in the language: "Take care," a friend may say to another as the two part. In his old life the same two friends would have said to one another, khodahfez - "may God protect you.”

“And since when is stealing people's possessions the call of God? you are all hypocrites who have suddenly come into power, and you don't know how to handle it”

“Since when are you so 'faithful'? just a couple of years ago you would show up in your tight jeans and borrow our car to pick up one of your five girlfriends. You think that beard makes you a man of God?”

“Think about it, but don't think too much. If you think too much you'll end up doing nothing.”

“Love is like a flower. Its upright when its in harmony and withered when its dead.”

“If something must be said, it will say itself. The writer's task is to listen.”