“That’s the attractive thing about war,” said Rosewater. “Absolutely everybody gets a little something.”

“You just got sprung.""Nig Rosewater out there?" Clete asked."Nig Rosewater hasn't been up at this hour since World War II.”

“I’m reminded of a book my father used to read me,” she said. “A bunch of elves and things get into a huge war over a piece of jewelry that everybody wants but nobody can wear.”

“One morning in Saigon she'd asked what it was all about 'This whole war,' she said, 'why was everybody so mad at everybody else?'I shook my head. 'They weren't mad exactly. Some people wanted one thing, other people wanted another thing.''What did you want?''Nothing,' I said. 'To stay alive.''That's all?''Yes.”

“Absolute power does not corrupt absolutely, absolute power attracts the corruptible.”

“That’s the funny thing about knowing you can’t have something. It makes you desperate. -Leah”