O Great Swami of the East, your wisdom has pierced the miasma.

At first, when a child meets something that scares him, the fear grows, like a wave. But when he goes into the water and swims - gets used to the water - the wave grows small. If we pull the child away when the wave is high, he never sees that, never learns how to swim and remains afraid. If he gets a chance to feel strong, in control, that's called coping. When he copes, he feels better.

To trust someone is to take the greatest risk of all. (180)

I'd long thought that a surfeit of sensitivity could be a killing thing, too much insight malignant in its own right. The best survivors--there are studies that show it--are those blessed with an inordinate ability to deny. And keep on marching.

Optimism is denial for chumps with no life experience"."What's pessimism?" I said."Religion without God.

Fools write books about madness being an elevated mental state or an alternative form of creativity. It's not, it's anguish.

Revenge was a dish best eaten cold, but eight years between was arctic.

If you ask me, psychopaths are more talented than the rest of us... but they're still fucking psychopaths.