“Extending trust to those who have already proven themselves untrustworthy is a bit like cutting off the end of a rope and sewing it to the other end to make it longer.”

“In the end, those who demean others only disrespect themselves.”

“His leaving had been like snipping off the end of a rope - leaving two unraveling strands.”

“We should trust people to be exactly what they have proven themselves to be, no more and no less.”

“I feel very strongly that all Japanese at that time had the idea drilled into them of 1999 being the end of the world. Aum renunciates have already accepted, inside themselves, the end of the world, because when they become a renunciate, they discard themselves totally, thereby abandoning the world. In other words, Aum is a collection of people who have accepted the end. People who continue to hold out hope for the near future still have an attachment to the world. If you have attachments, you will not discard your Self, but for Renunciates it's as if they've leaped right off the cliff. And taking a giant leap like that feels good. They lose something - but gain something in return.”

“She lifted her sewing and bit off the thread in the way women do to make your flesh crawl.”