“Why had such a promising world been crucified on the tree of obligation, thorned by duties, hanged by hypocrisy, smothered by customs?”

“The only obligation I recognize in this world is my duty to my immediate family”

“Maybe she should cut the guy a little slack, [...] Maybe Thorne had been a no-show because something bad happened to him on the job.What if he'd been injured in the line of duty and didn't come by as promised because he was incapacitated in some way? Maybe he hadn't called to apologize or to explain his absence because he physically couldn't. Right. And maybe she had checked her brain into her panties from the second she first laid eyes on the man.”

“The Romans would never have found time to conquer the world if they had been obliged first to learn Latin.”

“We are crucified to the world, and the world must be as crucified to us. It esteems us as fools, let us esteem it as mad.”

“From the right to know and the duty to inquire flows the obligation to act.”