“There have been cans of dog food more splendiferous than South Richmond. Land mines more tender.”

“South Richmond was a neighborhood of mouse holes, lace curtains, Sears catalogs, measles epidemics, baloney sandwiches- and men who knew more about the carburetor than they knew about the clitoris.”

“Very well. He'd lighten up. As a matter of fact, he felt as light as the bubbly froth that flew from the lips of the waves. Whatever else his long, unprecedented life might have been, it had been fun. Fun! If others should find that appraisal shallow, frivolous, so be it. To him, it seemed now to largely have been some form of play. And he vowed that in the future he would strive to keep that sense of play more in mind, for he'd grown convinced that play--more than piety, more than charity or vigilance--was what allowed human beings to transcend evil.”

“Can I drink more than one mai tai without taking on the aroma of an aroused butterly?”

“In the life of the individual, an aesthetic sensibility is both more authentic and more commendable than a political or religious one.”

“It is more important to be free than to be happy.”

“It's more important to be free than to be happy.”