“Thinking in isolation and with pride ends in being an idiot.”

“I've been an idiot to think that real life could have a happy ending”

“Thinking, Garraty thought. That’s the day’s business. Thinking. Thinking and isolation, because it doesn’t matter if you pass the time of day with someone or not; in the end, you’re alone.”

“No one may pride himself at being more than an individual, and no one despondently think that he is not an individual...”

“The problem with religion, because it's been sheltered from criticism, is that it allows people to believe en masse what only idiots or lunatics could believe in isolation.”

“Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.”