“Even when it sucks, it's worth it.”

“Remember this: No one is looking at your imperfections; they're all too busy worrying about their own.”

“Do you know what it is to play a part? To split your personality deliberately for twenty-four hours a day? Even when with friends? Even when alone, so that you will never forget inadvertently? To be a dilettante? To be eternally amused? To be of no account? To be so effete and faintly ridiculous that you have convinced all who know you of your own worthlessness? All so that your life may be safe even though it means it has become barely worth living. But even so, once in a while I can fight them.”

“Real men can carry carpets, Claire. Keep that in mind when looking for a husband.”

“A wall is happy when it is well designed, when it rests firmly on its foundation, when its symmetry balances its part and produces no unpleasant stresses. Good design can be worked out on the mathematical principles of mechanics.”

“My feeling is, quite simply, that if there is a God, He has done such a bad jobthat he isn't worth discussing.”

“The shadows of the room pool in the lines of our faces, draining our eyes of hue. "There's nothing left worth saying.”