“Life's too slippery for books, Clarice; anger appears as lust, lupus presents as hives.”

“Vast Numbers throng'd the fruitful Hive;
Yet those vast Numbers made 'em thrive;
Millions endeavouring to supply
Each other's Lust and Vanity.”

“Gratitude’s got a short half-life, Clarice.”

“A man can be aroused to anger as easily as he is aroused to rut. The two emotions are closely linked. Anger and lust. So the warrior is aroused in battle and fights to dominate.”

“The most stable elements, Clarice, appear in the middle of the periodic table, roughly between iron and silver.

Between iron and silver. I think that is appropriate for you.”

“And fighting the battle of life is fighting against fearful odds, too. There are giants and dragons in this nineteenth century, and the golden casket that they guard is not so easy to win as it appears in the story-books.”

“Life is slippery. We all need a loving hand to hold onto.”

“They think how one life hums, revolves and toils,
One cog in a golden singing hive…”

“When confronted with a birthday in a week I will remember that a book can be a really good present, too.”

“Life is too short to read a bad book.”