“Not one country in existence today has had the same borders and government for as long as two hundred years. The world will continue changing.”

“The inescapable truth... is that, within a miraculously short period of five years, your Government reduced this country from a position of world supremacy and absolute security to one of mortal peril. It took the Roman Empire a hundred years of the most enjoyable decadence to achieve the same result.”

“How can you govern a country with two hundred thirty-eight varieties of cheese?”

“The circumstances of the world are continually changing, and the opinions of men change also,Government is for the living, and not for the dead; it is the living only that has any right in it.”

“For two hundred and fifty years the kzinti had not attacked human space. They had nothing to attack with. For two hundred and fifty years men had not attacked the kzinti worlds; and no kzin could understand it. Men confused them terribly.”

“It's my heart. It is the same as yours. I shook my head. No it isn't. Your heart has beaten for fifteen hundred years--and will continue to beat for at least another fifteen hundred--while mine will be lucky to beat for as long as Ellie's has. He kissed my hair and then pressed his cheek against my head. I will see to it that it beats for as long as possible.”