Hungry Ghosts
“Hans looked at his son, pummeled and bruised, brimming with silent anger. In his son, saw the soul of his father. Not a protector, but a pugilist. He knew his father to be fighting man who had been knocked down more times than he could count- and because of that, he made his family into his opponent. Because that was at least a fight he could win.”
Romantic Comedy
” ‘In this sketch,’ he said ‘I’d be breaking the law because I’m so much better looking than a woman I’m dating?’ “
All The Lonely People
“It used to be the family all looking out for one another, but it’s not like that anymore. It used to be you at least knew your doctor, but these days you’re lucky to get an appointment, let alone see the same GP twice. It used to be your neighbors kept an eye on you, but people like to keep themselves to themselves now. It used to be that you belonged to a community, but really, is there such a thing anymore? Now it’s more like every man for himself.”
Trust
“Most of us prefer to believe we are the active subjects of our victories but only the passive objects of defeats. We triumph, but it is not really we who fail- we are ruined by forces beyond our control.”
Victory City
“It was by no means certain that the people would choose sophistication over barbarianism. The party line regarding members of other faiths- we are good, they are bad- had a certain infectious clarity. So did the idea that dissent was unpatriotic. Offered the choice between thinking for themselves and blindly following their leaders, many people would choose blindness over clear-sightedness, especially when the empire was prospering and there was food on the table and money in their pockets. Not everybody wanted to think, preferring to eat and spend. Not everybody wanted to love their neighbor. Some people preferred hatred.”
Finding Me
“Forgiveness is giving up all hope of a different past.”