“Paradoxically, the ability to be alone is the condition for the ability to love.”

“The dangerous paradox of living in this age of instant communication is that the act of communication has become something of a virtue. Apparently, because people have the ability to communicate instantly, they have lost the ability to communicate at all.”

“Part of being a big winner is the ability to be a big loser. There is no paradox involved. It is a distinctly Harvard thing to be able to turn any defeat into victory”

“She thinks that if she gives it up, she'll lose the great abilities she believes she's acquired. It's a terrible paradox really: the mind falls in love with psychosis. The evil seduction, I call it. (186)”

“He came face-to-face with the rude paradox fame had dealt him: The secret of his extraordinary art had been his ability to observe human interaction anonymously, thereby gaining insight into the emotions on display in ordinary life--it was his ability to become a fly-on-the-wall that made him famous, and fame had destroyed his ability to become a fly-on-the-wall.”

“Love is not a feeling.  It's an ability.”