“ParadiseA concept embraced by almost every culture. A land of peace and harmony. Some say itdoesn't belong to the earth, that there is no Shangri-la, no utopianwilderness for the living.”

“Hell isn’t some fiery pit “down there.” It’s right here on Earth, in every dirty city, every yawning town.”

“Scientists say every action initiates an equal and opposite reaction. I say that's just the start. I say every action initiates a most unequal and upredictable chain reaction, that every filament of living becomes part of a larger weave, while remaining identifiable. That every line of latitude requires several stripes of longitude to obtain meaning. That every universe is part of a bigger heaven, a heaven of rhythm and geometry, where a heartbeat is the apex of a triangle.”

“Honolulu represents the worst of all that. Yet every time I fly in, anticipation begins to build just about the time I think I'll go crazy, stuffed into a narrow airliner seat between honeymooners and retired couples looking for Shangri-La.I'd like to tell them to hold on tight to that person beside them, because that's where they'll find paradise. It is not a beach or a palm tree grove or the brim of a smoking black crater. It's a plateau inside their hearts, one that can only be reached in tandem.”

“Your life doesn't belong to you, it belongs to the people that love you”

“Grown up? Me? I suppose I have. Killing things, and almost killing myself, must have changed me some, after all.”

“Happily ever after is a concept I'll never believe in.”