“Ambassadors are idiots who possess only one skill: outkowtowing one another at official functions.”

“I believe death is only a door. One closes, and another opens. If I were to imagine heaven, I would imagine a door opening. And he would be waiting for me there.”

“Only professional diplomats, inveterate idiots and women view diplomacy as a long-term substitute for war.”

“Maybe then you comprehend, speaking one language only is a prison!”

“I understand now that boundaries between noise and sound are conventions. All boundaries are conventions, waiting to be transcended. One may transcend any convention if only one can first conceive of doing so.”

“come now, what's a reviewer?" I reasoned. "One who reads quickly, arrogantly, but never wisely...”

“We were, to quote the proverb, "The one dog who barks at nothing answered by a thousand dogs barking at something...”