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1 " Is this nuclear physics or are you ordering a cake?It's a cake. You eat it,,you don't frame it. "
― Vincent Panettiere , Shared Sorrows
2 " She gave him a brief, mysterious smile. “You were watching me. I felt you before I saw you.”So? This is a crime? he thought, determined not to retreat. Did you study cultural physiology?The eyes of Italian males are hardwired from birth to examine, observe, even caress, if you will, the female form. Any form. Some we glance at. Some we don’t really see, like our mothers and sisters. Some we ignore, and some we store as reference for the future. Got it? "
3 " Ever since third grade you make mushroom clouds out of mushroom soup. "
4 " Spare me the Deepak Chopra tribute. "
5 " Sneering has gotten a bad rap, he thought, walking rapidly up the hill from his car. All that unleashed adrenaline got his legs pumping. Why is it that only villains are allowed to sneer? Surely such a display of disapproval could be used to better all humankind. If there was more sneering in the world, people might think before they acted. "
6 " She couldn't think of what to make for dinner that would include Ensure, lettuce andchocolate cake. She called Mr. Wong's. Again. "
7 " Of course killing Iraqis for Jesus so we can get their oil... "
8 " This is a class in American Literature and not an arena for extreme full-contact judo "
9 " Seeing the pictures every evening while finishing the New York Times and waiting for dinner was his joy. Francine was unaware of his pleasure. He could not reveal these feelings to the children or Francine. Silly. A father loves his children but can’t speak of it for fear of being made trivial. "
10 " His inner, unexpressed love was enough. This would sustain him, and no one would have to know. Does unexpressed love exist? Or does it have to be believed but not heard, like a tree falling in the forest with no humans in sight. Unexpressed and nothing. "
11 " Are you a messenger from god "
12 " One city and four afterthoughts. Yet, if the residents of Manhattan got down from their self-reverential pedestals, they’d soon realize that Manhattan was the most provincial of towns, albeit wealthier. A more than superficial look would reveal a mini Fort Wayne every three blocks. Duplicates of supermarket, pharmacy, candy store, florist, so that the vertical dwellers need journey no more than three blocks in either direction from their front door. Crossing to a fourth block would only bring repetition of services, with no advantage and a longer walk home. "
13 " I don’t give a holy fuck about your rules. Do what I say now. "
14 " Outpouring of emotion—grief, love, affection, anger, distrust . . . fill in the blanks. Emoticons replaced words on the internet. Without words, cohesive thought was replaced by an impulse signified by a smiling or sad face. Where would it end? Driving him to need an outpouring of wine, he expected. "
15 " Frank knew the correct term was sword rapier and that it was a reproduction of the kind of weapon used by armies in seventeenth-century Europe.Made of high carbon steel, the blade was as long as a yardstick and gained another six or seven inches in its scabbard. The cup hilt indicated its Spanish roots. Less than three pounds in all, he had to admit it was easy to carry, fitting close to his body. Then why the aversion, the dread?Was it some pacifist leanings? Or the distaste for a weapon that might end a life? "
