“And in the evening concealed fluorescent tubes light the room so evenly that it is no longer illuminated, it is a pool of luminosity.”

“Because human nature will not deny its weaknesses, even where it is seemingly in the process of overcoming them.”

“Astonishing, really, that they still look human. They ought to look like megaphones, like screams, like brutal desires, like beery ecstasies... like decadent barism. But the unconscious drive to remain in God's image seems to be so strong that not even the six-day races can quite eradicate it.”

“If someone had the ability to sit at every table at once, he would hear nothing but good about himself, and yet even such contortions would pale in comparison to those of the others.”

“Therefore, the very large department store should not be viewed as a sinful undertaking, as, for example, the Tower of Babel. It is, rather, proof of the inability of the human race of today to be extravagant. It even builds skyscrapers: and the consequence this time isn't a great flood, but just a shop...”

“Our living room had a clock in it that used to clear its throat before striking the hours. He is that harrumphing.”

“A moving shadow means more to us than a body at rest. We are no longer taken in by a fixed grin. We know that only death has a rictus.”