The past is set down in a thousand thousand indelible scrolls. But the future is a blank parchment forever in wait of a present.
Children—their untroubled, idyllic vision of the future is almost always shattered. Sooner or later they learn what all youth must—that life is the cruel fate that awaits them while they make plans for a tomorrow that will never be.
He wore the memory of her embrace like armor, and though he knew it would not save his life, it would be all that was left to him to ease his passage into whatever lay beyond.
Since my arrival in Rome, I have had many opportunities to wonder if compassion’s opposite is cruelty, or to reflect whether or not indifference would serve as a better black to its white.
We would soon be on our way to war, where mercy is unwise and kindness has no place.
Why can’t I remember that not once have I ever seen a coin, whether grimy copper or bright gold, that had but one side.
One has to be at least as ancient as I am now to see that if you try to make sense of life, if you look for patterns and meaning, not only are you bound to be disappointed, you are likely to waste a good deal of precious time.
I don’t care how smart you are. You’ll never understand how little you really know until you’ve had a woman.
Pride costs nothing, yet it is especially precious when it can be “purchased” at someone else’s expense.
Yes, I have a romantic nature; it is a character flaw which should be viewed with pity, not derision.
It is laughable how often good manners interfere with my survival.
Some men simply refuse to appear insulted. But then, having felt the sting from the slap on their cheek, know just where to slip the knife, their smile never fading.
I advise, however, moderation in this task of setting goals, or else risk becoming tangled up in a Gordian knot of life’s many disappointments.