“At times, he even admitted that he'd been more an observer of the world than a participant in it...”

“At Times, even he admitted that he'd been more an observer of the world than a participant in it, and in moments of painful honesty, he sometimes believed he was a failure in all what was important”

“He'd somehow lived a detached life, more Like a spectator than a participant in his own existence.”

“The more you observe politics, the more you've got to admit that each party is worse than the other.”

“[David] Maraniss sees [Barack] Obama as a man with "a moviegoer's or writer's sensibility, where he is both participating and observing himself participating, and views much of the political process as ridiculous or surreal, even as he is deep into it.”

“He'd been crazy about her for more years than he cared to admit. Unfortunately, he knew nothing would ever come of it, so he would have to settle for proximity and hope that like a mold or a fungus, he would eventually grow on her.”