“You are not responsible for anyone who stubbornly chooses to ruin his own life.”

“Welcome to the human race. Nobody controls his own life, Ender. The best you can do is choose to fill the roles given you by good people, by people who love you.”

“Why would anyone (referring to the Tibetans) choose self-immolation to take their own life? That is weird. Why self-immolation? I do not get it.”

“A tactical retreat is not a bad response to a surprise assault, you know. First you survive. Then you choose your own ground. Then you counterattack.”

“You are responsible for your actions and sins, in the same manner as you believe that you are responsible for your own life.”

“The Outsider cannot accept life as it is, who cannot consider his own existence or anyone else's necessary. He sees 'too deep and too much.”

“You must not ever stop being whimsical. And you must not, ever, give anyone else the responsibility for your life.”

“What is an anarchist? One who, choosing, accepts the responsibility of choice.”

“Life is short, but it's long enough to ruin any man who wants to be ruined.”

“The search is what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everydayness of his own life.”