“I wondered what the value was, in the Darwinian sense, of making fast friends like that. There must be some scientific significance to being a follower, to allowing yourself to be persuaded by personality”

“When I'm with him, I feel like a completely different person. I like the way this person feels. And then I wonder - is this the person I really am?How can you know for certain what parts of yourself are authentic and what parts you've invented to make life bearable?”

“A sense of accomplishment. It is the most important ingredient in any rational being's formula of happiness. It is the element that builds confidence and allows us to go on to other, greater tasks. It is the item that promotes a sense of self-worth, that allows any person to believe there is value in life itself, that gives a sense of purpose to bolster us as we face life's unanswerable questions.”

“What is done for you - allow it to be done. What you must do yourself - make sure you do it.”

“A great friend can act like a trash can with a hole in the bottom. To listen to someone else's personal garbage with the same empathy you would spend listening to their joy, and then release that garbage just as quickly as you hear it, without absorbing it, makes you a wonderful friend to that person--and an even better one to yourself.”

“But the false serpent persuaded Adam that he must still do something to become like God: he must achieve that likeness by deciding and acting for himself...He wanted instead to unravel the mystery of his being for himself, to make himself what God had already made him. That was the Fall of man.”