In Words I Trust

For every tired, overworked, bitter parent who tells you how much you won’t get done when you have kids, there’s a parent like John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats, who talks about cradling his son in one arm, and picking out melodies on the piano with the other. Or George Saunders, who stole time from his office job for seven years to write the stories that would become CivilWarLand In Bad Decline. Or any number of moms and dads who make it work and make the work. They are out there. Find them. Hang out with them. Ask them how they do it. Let them be your role models.

Luxury always comes at someone else’s expense. One of the many advantages of civilization is that one doesn’t generally have to see that, if one doesn’t wish. You’re free to enjoy its benefits without troubling your conscience.

Dominic: You said that there's weird shit, but it normally turns out to have a rational explanation.

Men are frail creatures, of course; one does not expect them to exhibit the steadfastness of women.

There's a dignity in consequences.

Popular young adult novels notwithstanding, vampires only sparkle when they burn.

Holden: There's a right thing to do.

I disapprove of matrimony as a matter of principle.... Why should any independent, intelligent female choose to subject herself to the whims and tyrannies of a husband? I assure you, I have yet to meet a man as sensible as myself!

The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready; it goes on because it’s eleven-thirty.

If you ask any copper why they stick at a job which exposes them to abuse from everyone from petty criminals all the way down to government ministers, they'll say it's variety. It's the not knowing when you go on shift what the rest of your day is going to be like. Accordingly, your training and experience emphasize a loose set of principles which can be applied to a wide variety of situations. They are: make sure it doesn't spread, make sure no one's dead, make sure no one's going to be dead soon--and make sure you call for backup before you need it.

Well, sir, if I could grow apples like that, I would call myself a gardener. But it was the singing that went to my heart, if you know what I mean.

Many that live deserve death. And Sun's that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be so eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.