Tiger got to hunt, Bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder, “Why, why, why?” Tiger got to sleep, Bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand.
Well, here we are, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why.
Viet Nam was a country where America was trying to make people stop being communists by dropping things on them from airplanes.
There is no beginning, no middle, no end, no suspense, no moral, no causes, no effects. What we love in our books are the depths of many marvelous moments seen all at one time.
There are too many of us, and we are all too far apart.
Never have I risked my life, or even my comfort, in the service of mankind. Shame on me.
Maturity, the way I understand it is knowing what your limitations are.
Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything.
If I were a younger man, I would write a history of human stupidity; and I would climb to the top of Mount McCabe and lie down on my back with my history for a pillow; and I would take from the ground some of the blue-white poison that makes statues of men; and I would make a statue of myself, lying on my back, grinning horribly, and thumbing my nose at You Know Who.[This is the last line in the book]
Everything that ever has been always will be, and everything that ever will be always has been.
Younger scientists are extremely sensitive to the moral implications of all they do.
You’ll forget it when you’re dead, and so will I. When I’m dead, I’m going to forget everything—and I advise you to do the same.
