“To be ignorant of the future is a condition of mortal existence, with which one can make terms. To be ignorant of the present, where it concerns the life of those one loves, is an additional burden almost beyond endurance.”

“One of those flash epiphanies of travel, the realization that worlds you'd love vibrantly exist outside your ignorance of them. The vitality of many lives you know nothing about. The breeze lifting a blue curtain in a doorway billows just the same whether you are lucky enough to observe it or not. Travel gives such jolts. I could live in this town, so how is it that I've never been here before today?”

“What arguments, what persuasions can I make use of, with any prospect of success, to such a woman as Madame Duval? ...She is too ignorant for instruction, too obstinate for entreaty, and too weak for reason.”

“You can succeed beyond the past, but not beyond your belief”

“A big secret to life is when you learn that learning is just as entertaining as entertainment, but with long term benefits.”

“Your past cannot stop you from a bright future, but an improper interpretation of your past can be fatal to your future.”

“Obama had campaigned against Bush's ideas and approaches. But, Donilon, for one, thought that Obama had perhaps underestimated the extent to which he had inherited George W. Bush's presidency - the apparatus, personnel and mind-set of war making.”