“Every person defines reality in his own way. And every person figures that anybody who doesn't agree with him has got to be irrational.”

“Every man makes mistakes, Shade, it's a cross every person has to bare. People make mistakes. It is the way we feel about those mistakes, the way we come back from them, that defines who we really are.”

“Tom, don't let anybody kid you. It's all personal, every bit of business. Every piece of shit every man has to eat every day of his life is personal. They call it business. OK. But it's personal as hell. You know where I learned that from? The Don. My old man. The Godfather. If a bolt of lightning hit a friend of his the old man would take it personal. He took my going into the Marines personal. That's what makes him great. The Great Don. He takes everything personal Like God. He knows every feather that falls from the tail of a sparrow or however the hell it goes? Right? And you know something? Accidents don't happen to people who take accidents as a personal insult.”

“Every person is defined by the communities she belongs to.”

“Every person has to live his or her own life and then make the choice to share it with other people.”

“...every person has a star, every star has a friend, and for every person carrying a star there is someone else who reflects it, and everyone carries this reflection like a secret confidante in the heart.”