Quotes from book

Xenocide

“Intellectual understanding does not always bring visceral belief.”

“When you have wisdom that another person knows that he needs, you give it freely. But when the other person doesn't yet know that he needs your wisdom you keep it to yourself. Food only looks good to a hungry man.”

“I looked for perfection, and I found something better.”

“I think you don't grow up until you stop worrying about other people's purposes or lack of them and find the purposes you believe in for yourself.”

“The only way to retrieve a secret, once known, is to replace it with a lie.”

“The future is a hundred thousand threads, but the past is a fabric that can never be rewoven.”

“Grief, she reminded herself, is almost always for the mourner's loss.”

“Parents always make their worst mistakes with their oldest children. That's when parents know the least and care the most, so they're more likely to be wrong and also more likely to insist that they're right.”

“The only teacher that's worth anything to you is your enemy.”

“If words can be lethal weapons, I must provide them with an arsenal.”

“If you asked me to marry you all over again today I'd say yes, said Valentine.

And if I had only met you for the first time today, I'd ask.”

“Madness, and then illumination.”