Sleepless

Things are as bad as you fear they are. People are as bad as you think they are. The Universe does not care.

For there is nothing quite so terror-inducing as the loss of sleep. It creates phantoms and doubts, causes one to questions one's own abilities and judgement, and, over time, dismantles, from within, the body.

Once we understand how they think, we can predict their behaviour. And once we predict it well, we can manipulate it. That is diplomacy.

Pain cannot be ignored. However, it can be endured. When necessary, a great deal of pain can be endured. Just ask my mother.

Most undercover cops are vastly skilled at compartmentalization. It is a talent as valued as lying. They seal off their real feelings and create imitation emotions. Easily torn down when it's time to show the badge, drag someone downtown, and sit across from him in an interrogation cell and tell him how fucked he is now.

The world doesn't just jump out of its axis on its own.

Money makes people stupid. They don't have to work as hard as people who don't have money. That's why the smart people who do have money mostly use it for one thing… They use it to make sure the people without it don't get any more.

Morality he found amusing, in the obscure way that only a man with a Ph.D. in philosophy could find such things amusing, but justice and ethics were inflexible measures, applicable to all, and not to be joked about.

You are going to die in front of dozens of witnesses, and none of them will do a thing to help you or avenge you. Because they know exactly what you know: The world is ending.

Or maybe this is the true order. To bring together the need with the thind that is needed.

Parker Haas, crying Omaha, and his sleepless Rose.

Ca oameni, nu facem decât să ne prezentăm. Compunem imaginea pe care vrem s-o vadă ceilalţi şi sperăm că ei au s-o citească aşa cum am scris-o noi. Toată lumea face asta.

The general air of insecurity and affection made it too easy for him to imagine these once-a-year fabulous creatures as the cubicle dwellers most of them were in everyday life.

I would never dream of killing an excellent tailor, not even to keep a secret that could endanger my life.