“I do not listen when anyone uses the word immoral," said the Wizard. "In the young it is ridiculous, in the old it is sententious and reactionary and an early warning sign of apoplexy. In the middle-aged, who love and fear the idea of moral life the most, it is hypocritical.”

“Love is the word used to label the sexual excitement of the young, the habituation of the middle-aged, and the mutual dependence of the old. ”

“Is it really love to tell someone that if it came down to picking between them and every other life on the planet, you’d pick them? Is that — I don’t know, is that a moral sort of love at all?''Love isn’t moral or immoral,' said Clary. 'It just is.''I know,' Simon said. 'But the actions we take in the name of love, those are moral or immoral.”

“There are only three kinds of Irishmen who can't understand women. Young men, old men and men of middle age.”

“With false names, on the right nets, they could be anybody. Old men, middle-aged women, anybody, as long as they were careful about the way they wrote. All that anyone would see were the words, their ideas. Every citizen started equal, on the nets.”

“No matter how old a mother is she watches her middle-aged children for signs of improvement.”