“Simon drove as if he knew something about physics that Einstein hadn’t thought of and God never intended. If nature abhorred a vacuum, Simon positively loathed one, and rushed to fill in the tiniest gap in the heavy flow of speeding traffic. He passed on the right, left, center, and all variations in between, and the Keble responded as if involved in some kind of blood compact with its human master.”

“In his mind’s eye, though, he sees——Talibanmoving like scorpions across a similar landscape his own caravan blown to shit blood streaming from buddiesNow I’m one of themHe sights in again.No time forLack of PTSDHe only hopes thatGentle BenIncrease-the-Peace Benis one of them, too, now.Now, Ben.Find your inner Taliban.”

“He feelsennuidepressionadrift in his life. Purposeless, perhaps because—dig a well in the Sudan and thejanjaweed come in and shoot the people anyway—buy mosquito nets and the boys you save grow up to—rape women—set up cottage industries in Myanmar and the army—steals them and uses the women as slaves andBen is starting to be afraid that he is starting to share Chon’s opinion of the human speciesthat people are basicallyshit.”

“And it's all fun and games until someone loses an I.”

“I don't recognize myself. I don't know who I am anymore." And it's all fun and games until someone loses an I.”

“Smart people sometimes get stupid, but stupid people never get smart. Never. Ever. 'You can come down the evolutionary ladder,' Chon has observed to Ben and O; 'you can't climb up.”

“She's also ruthless - it's love me or off with your head. She's the Red Queen”