“Lucky people will focus on what’s in front of them rather than scrabbling about for what they’re searching for.”

“The thing about Magellan is the thing about all these explorers. Most of the time, they’re just determined to chase impossible things. And most of them are so busy looking at the horizon that they can’t even see what’s right in front of them.”

“For all their bitching about what’s holding them back, most people have a lot of trouble coming up with the defined dreams they’re being held from.”

“Friedell caught the essential truth about people prone to catch-all theories: they aren’t in search of the truth, they’re in search of themselves.”

“People do what they have to do to survive, and if they’re lucky, they just might find something worth living for.”

“The great unsold truth of libraries is that people need them not because they’re about study and solitude, but because they’re about connection. Connection with other worlds and different views, even if that’s no more than being among other people thinking and breathing.”