“America is a land where men govern, but women rule.”

“Part of the American myth is that people who are handed the skin of a dead sheep at graduating time think that it will keep their minds alive forever.”

“The purpose of writing is to hold a mirror to nature, but too much today is written from small mirrors in vanity cases.”

“You were born an original. Don't die a copy.”

“An original is hard to find but easy to recognize.”

“I have found that it is better to be alone than in the wrong company. A single conversation with the right person can be more valuable than many years of study.. ”

“The adventures of adolescence had taught Piet Barol that he was extremely attractive to most women and to many men. He was old enough to be pragmatic about this advantage, young enough to be immodest, and experienced enough to suspect that it might be decisive in this, as in other circumstances.”