“But indifference would ultimately commend itself as a devastating weapon.”

“Dr. Rhinestein did not test for malice, for spiteful indifference, or for congenital meanness. If they could, I wonder how many fish we might throw back.”

“Time itself made all things rare.”

“In a country that doesn't discriminate between fame and infamy, the latter presents itself as plainly more achievable.”

“You were always uncomfortable with the rhetoric of emotion, which is quite a different matter from discomfort with emotion itself.”

“I suppose that's a common conceit, that you've already been so damaged that damage itself in its totality makes you safe.”

“I thought at the time that I couldn't be horrified anymore, or wounded. I suppose that's a common conceit, that you've already been so damaged that damage itself, in its totality, makes you safe.”