“Clever's not enough to hold me - I want characters who are more than devices to be moved about for Effect.”

“Manhattan in the morning is a living stream of Purpose; everyone's got a place to be and a problem on their mind. That doesn't mean it's and unfriendly place -- just busy and preoccupied. Personally, I love it. I'm a social creature but there are times and places you just don't want to do more than grunt at your fellow human being.”

“I am a trained professional liar. Do not read me as a textbook.”

“I'm not so arrogant to think I'm the only guide someone needs ... but I might be the guide that someone needs.”

“Civilization did not come with fire. It came with the discovery of how to use fire to heat water.”

“I have more enemies than I deserve," I said. "I am fighting a losing battle, me against the world. The next century is at stake. Time is running out and my optimism is sorely strained.""Yeah?" he said. "I was young once too.”

“There is nothing less romantic, literary, or lyrical than the language of pathology, diagnosis, symptom checklists. As I read through these checklists over and over again I was struck by the harshness, the crudeness of the terminology. And once the evaluation process began, more and more distinctly unpoetic terms were added to the lists, as the problems quickly grew in scope and seriousness.”