“It didn't seem fair that you could not prevent being the object of other people's emotions, you were not safe from their hate--or from their love, for that matter. You were never safe from being invaded by their feelings when you wanted only to be rid of them, free, off, away.”

“Laughter is the jam on the toast of life. It adds flavor, keeps it from being too dry, and makes it easier to swallow.”

“Men are generally more law-abiding than women. Women have the feeling that since they didn't make the rules, the rules have nothing to do with them. ”

“Real stories like this, human ones, could get you sent to prison, and it didn’t matter what they were about. It didn’t matter if the story was about an old woman or a squid attack—if it diverted emotion from the Dear Leader, it was dangerous.”

“A Stalin functionary admitted, "Innocent people were arrested: naturally - otherwise no one would be frightened. If people, he said, were arrested only for specific misdemeanours, all the others would feel safe and so become ripe for treason.”

“Statuettes of drunken sailors, velvet pictures of island maidens, plastic seashell lamps made in Taiwan. What contempt the people who think up souvenirs have for other people.”

“Do something you really love in the most adventurous place you can and make sure it helps other people. --Diane Sawyer quoted from her father”