“I believe that truth has only one face: that of a violent contradiction.”

“No one can know a false thing, one can only believe it with certainty until it is contradicted. (Page 7)”

“Two truths cannot contradict one another.”

“If he saw two truths that seemed to contradict each other, he would take the two truths and the contradiction along with them. His spiritual sight is stereoscopic, like his physical sight: he sees two different pictures at once and yet sees all the better for that. Thus he has always believed that there was such a thing as fate, but such a thing as free will also. Thus he believed that children were indeed the kingdom of heaven, but nevertheless ought to be obedient to the kingdom of earth. He admired youth because it was young and age because it was not. It is exactly this balance of apparent contradictions that has been the whole buoyancy of the healthy man.”

“For someone so violent, he has a gentle face, doesn't he?”

“Be careful, Hally.""Of what? The truth? I seem to be the only one around here who is prepared to face it.”