“It's so easy to become a grumbler, someone who condemns and carps at everything on principle and sees an ulterior motive behind it.”

“Men who just call to say hello generally have ulterior motives.”

“...It is when we act freely, for the sake of the action itself rather than for ulterior motives, that we learn to become more than what we were.”

“What would it mean in practice to eliminate all the 'negative people' from one's life [as demanded by motivational speaker J.P. Maroney]? It might be a good idea to separate from a chronically carping spouse, but it is not so easy to abandon the whiny toddler, the colicky infant, or the sullen teenager.”

“Everyone has an ulterior motive. Everyone wants something, and everyone is willing to do whatever they haveto in order to get it. Regardless of who winds up hurt in the process.”

“I will not be someone who abandons my principles as soon as they become inconvenient. I will not be someone who says that certain things have to be done… as long as somebody else does them.”