“We have to learn to be our own best friends because we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemies.”

“The enemy is within the gates; it is with our own luxury, our own folly, our own criminality that we have to contend.”

“You will find that our enemies are our own kin. It is they who betray us. So learn this most important lesson-in the end, our worst enemy is ourselves”

“In our own case we accept excuses too easily; in other people’s we do not accept them easily enough.”

“What hope is there?” I asked. “If even angels fall, what hope is there for the rest of us?”“There isn’t,” he said. “We’re on our own. And we have to make the choices we think are best for our own survival.”

“So entangled are we in our own designs that the concurrent and often conflicting plots of our families, friends, and enemies may come to us as surprises suddenly unraveled or traps suddenly sprung... If no one can see into another's heart, it is probably because no one comes close enough, or stays long enough, or listens loud enough over the thump of their own, to see and hear.”