“I had discovered that learning something, no matter how complex, wasn't hard when I had a reason to want to know it.”

“This however, wasn't an ideal world, and no matter how hard I tried to think of an answer, I had nothing.”

“I would rather not have upset him, but I couldn't see any reason to change my life. Looking back on it, I wasn't unhappy. When I was a student, I had lots of ambitions like that. But when I had to give up my studies I learned very quickly that none of it really mattered.”

“I had two beady brown eyes that, no matter how hard I tried to look mysterious and cool, always seemed to say "It wasn't just me who farted.”

“I want to know that I've accomplished something. I want to feel that it had some meaning. At the last summing up, I want to be sure it wasn't all-for nothing.”

“Without knowing exactly what, I knew that the fire was something that had to do with the meaning. I decided I wasn't going to forget it, no matter what happened. No matter that the fire wasn't something that could be added to the heap, or that I was ever going to be able to explain in any way to Pierre Anthon.”