"'The action of the individual, that's the driving force of history... 'The history of the world is but the biography of great men,' Carlyle writes, and so it is. Copernicus's genius, Cincinnatus's ambition, St. Francis of Assisi's faith: It is character that shapes history.'" (To Say Nothing of the Dog)

"It's funny how you can forget everything except people loving you. Maybe that's why humans find it so hard getting over love affairs. It's not the pain they're getting over, it's the love." (Jellicoe Road)