“Luz's manner of speaking made it clear that she had no idea what she might say next. It wasn't that she made things up, strictly speaking--only that facts were merely a point of departure for her.”

“What does a car bomb say about poverty, or the execution of a rural mayor explain about disenfranchisement?...The war had become, it it wasn't from the beginning, an indecipherable text.”

“Are you a politician?I hate politicians, he said. And, in any case, there's no such thing anymore: only sycophants and dissidents.”

“They spoke of the crowds that had filled the plaza: the people, always myopic, always easy to fool.”

“What does the end of a war mean if not that one side ran out of men willing to die?”

“You don’t sound like a scientist, you sound like a poet.”Rey smiled, “Can I be both?”But you’d rather be a poet.”Who wouldn’t?” he said.”

“Nothing builds community like complaining.”