"The true gentleman is subtly poised between an inner tact and an outer defense."

“One of the main faults of a fool is that he never changes his mind.”

“If writing is language and language is desire and longing and suffering . . . then why when we write, when we make shapes on paper, why then does it so often look like the traditional, straight models, why does our longing look for example like John Updike's longing?”

Source : Carole Maso (2000). “Break Every Rule: Essays on Language, Longing, & Moments of Desire”, Counterpoint Press

“Because of my life experiences, I understand that I have an opportunity to help other women. I have the desire and the ability.”

Source : "Gloria Allred: Tiger Woods's True Opponent?" by Sheila Marikar, abcnews.go.com. April 6, 2010.

“It wasn’t like I made his world better. It was like I was his world. It wasn’t some explosion; it wasn’t fireworks. It was a fire, burning slowly from the inside out.”

“The thought that we're in competition with Russians or with Chinese is all a mistake, and trivial. We are one species, with a world to win.”

“Afflictions have the same use and end to our souls, that frosty weather hath upon those clothes that are laid and bleaching, they alter the hue and make them white.”

“There is a fundamental difference between the Polish experience of the state and the Russian experience. In the Polish experience, the state was always a foreign power. So, to hate the state was a patriotic act.”

“Proud people keep others at arm's length. Broken people are willing to take the risks of getting close to others and loving intimately.”