At the end of medicine is dope; at the end of life is death; at the end of man may be the Hell which arrives from the vanities of the mind. - Norman Mailer

I never saw love as luck, as that gift from the gods which put everything else in place, and allowed you to succeed. No, I saw love as reward. One could find it only after one's virtue, or one's courage, or self-sacrifice, or generosity, or loss, has succeeded in stirring the power of creation.

He knew that again now. Hennessey’s death had opened to Croft vistas of such omnipotence that he was afraid to consider it directly. All day the fact hovered about his head, tantalizing him with odd dreams and portents of power.

Eisenhower could stand as a hero only for that large number of Americans who were most proud of their lack of imagination.