“Of course, for a lot of people, death was a welcome change. Grinding poverty takes the edge off most things, including life.”

“People say having kids is life changing, well that doesn't necessarily mean a good thing, does it? I could take one of my legs off. That would change my life.”

“Scientists are an agnostic lot, of course—well, most educated people are, aren’t they?”

“Life and death are balanced as it were on the edge of a razor.”

“Life and death are balanced as it were on the edge of a razor.”

“Though familiarity may not breed contempt, it takes off the edge of admiration.”

“Most people, after one success, are so cringingly afraid of doing less well that they rub all the edge off their subsequent work.”

“We can follow a steady upward course in a world of change without fear, welcoming opportunities”

“Sometimes the most important changes start in small places. The tides of history can leave people in conflict and exile and poverty. It takes time for those circumstances to change. But the recognition of a common humanity, the reconciliation of people bound by blood and a belief in one another -- that’s where progress begins. Understanding, and listening, and forgiveness.”

“I had always claimed to welcome the truth; yet now, in common with most of us, I was resentful of the truth because it called upon me to take an unwelcome course of action.”