“There is a period for hope and one for mourning.”

“Don’t mourn your luck that’s failing now,work gone wrong, your plansall proving deceptive — don’t mourn them uselessly.As one long prepared, and graced with courage,say goodbye to her, the Alexandria that is leaving.Above all, don’t fool yourself, don’t sayit was a dream, your ears deceived you:don’t degrade yourself with empty hopes like these.”

“Death always leaves one singer to mourn.”

“The Fourteenth Book is entitled, "What can a Thoughtful Man Hope for Mankind on Earth, Given the Experience of the Past Million Years?" It doesn't take long to read The Fourteenth Book. It consists of one word and a period. This is it: "Nothing.”

“Human beings, in point of fact, are lonely by nature, and one should feel sorry for them and love them and mourn with them. It is certain that people would understand one another better and love one another more if they would admit to one another how lonely they were, how sad they were in their tormented, anxious longings and feeble hopes.”

“Despair ... is the only cure for illusion. Without despair we cannot transfer our allegiance to reality - it's a kind of mourning period for our fantasies. Some people do not survive this despair, but no major change within a person can occur without it.”