“Young man, the conversation was between Lord Trask and myself. And when someone says something you don't understand, don't tell him he's crazy. Ask him what he means. What DO you mean Lord Trask?”

“I don't know what he means by that, but I nod and smile at him. You'd be surprised at how far that response can get you in a conversation where you are completely confused.”

“Lord Polonius: What do you read, my lord?
Hamlet: Words, words, words.
Lord Polonius: What is the matter, my lord?
Hamlet: Between who?
Lord Polonius: I mean, the matter that you read, my lord.”

“Then, if you love him," he said quietly, "please, Tessa, don't tell him what I just told you. Don't tell him that I love you.”

“Ibn 'Umar said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "On the Day of Rising, a believer will be brought near his Lord until His mercy descends on him and He will ask him to acknowledge his sins and say, 'Do you confess to such-and-such a sin? Do you confess to such-and-such a sin?' He will say, 'Lord, I confess.' He will say, 'I veiled it for you in the world and I forgive you for it today,' and he will be given the page of his good actions."”

“Twant me, 'twas the Lord. I always told him, 'I trust to you. I don't know where to go or what to do, but I expect you to lead me,' and He always did.”

“The hardest thing about being famous is that people are always nice to you. You're in a conversation and everybody's agreeing with what you're saying—even if you say something totally crazy. You need people who can tell you what you don't want to hear.”

“When he was asked what advantage had accrued to him from philosophy, his answer was, “The ability to hold converse with myself.””

“Ah," said the magus, understanding at once. "I see that he means to be prepared if he meets him again."
"Surely that's unlikely," said Sounis.
"I don't think unlikely means to him what it does to the rest of us," said the magus.”

“In Asia or the Arab world or in Africa, where the Muslims are, if you find one who says he's white, all he's doing is using an adjective to describe something that is incidental about him…. There is nothing else to it. He's just white. But when you get the white man over here in America and he says he's white, he means something else. You can listen to the sound of his voice when he says he's white. He means he's boss.”