“Reliving his degradation had struck some spark in him and it was glowing now like a blown-on coal.”

“Though I no longer liked him or respected him, the thought of his disapproval frightened me.”

“His thoughts were clearly still shoving him further away, toward some ultimate dark drama that he might or might not have actually lived through but whose telling would let out the pressure inside his skull.”

“He looked like a being who'd voyaged back through time from a world that had overcome illness, pain, and conflict.”

“The most beautiful faces have some ugly in them.”

“This is how it works now with the news: the story begins with a moral, then a narrative is fashioned to support it.”

“Men who turn their faith into a business owe all of us a steak dinner now and then.”