“I think the iPod is the true face of Republican politics, and I’m in favor of the music industry … standing up proud and saying it out loud: We in the Chiclet-manufacturing business are not about social justice, …we’re not about a coherent set of national ideals, we’re not about wisdom. We’re about choosing what WE want to listen to and ignoring everything else…. We’re about giving ourselves a mindless feel-good treat every five minutes. …We’re about persuading ten-year-old children to spend twenty-five dollars on a cool little silicone iPod case that costs a licensed Apple Computer subsidiary thirty-nine cents to manufacture.”

“So are we stalking your ex-husband?”“I’m a licensed private investigator,” I said. “I’m licensed to stalk.”“Really?”“In most cases.”“What about this case?”“In this case,” I said. “We’re stalking the hell out of him.”

“Our ignorance is such that most of us don’t realize we’re thirsty. Or, if we realize we’re thirsty, we look for water in the wrong place. We go into fire looking for cool refreshment. And often we’re confused about what our thirst actually is.”

“Aomame said, “It’s the same with menus and men and just about anything else: we think we’re choosing things for ourselves, but in fact we may not be choosing anything. It could be that everything’s decided in advance and we pretend we’re making choices. Free will may be an illusion. I often think that.”

“The most important words we’ll ever utter are those words we say to ourselves, about ourselves, when we’re by ourselves”

“What I know about my country is that when America is challenged, we rise to the occasion. When we’re fearful, we become divided. When we’re courageous and have good leadership, we unite.”