“For a gift that does not find balance and a service that is not returned are worth less than a curse.”

“One thing you will discover is that life is based less than you think on what you've learned and much more than you think on what you have inside you from the beginning.”

“In a life, or a portion of a life illuminated, there's a fullness and a balance that no theory or abstraction can match. Why do people waste so much time on abstraction? The life that is given to us, that we play out, is something that you cannot any more grasp with systems and ideas than you can tame an elephant with tweezers.”

“...this marvelous graceful thing, this joy of physics, this perfect balance between rebellion and obedience, is God's own signature on earth.”

“What I did with his automobile was fairly dramatic and somewhat risky, but still a lot easier than finding a parking place on the Upper East Side.”

“Whatever I do I've always done not because I want something but to compensate for a loss, to bring about a balance, to create amends, to make things right.”

“He felt as if he were paying for the privilege of music with portions of his life and body. But it was well worth it.”