The life force is like a hot potato, and while impure thoughts may make you burn in hell for all eternity once you die, here in life what gets you ba… - Steve Toltz

When people think your days are numbered, they're really very nice to you. It's only when you're trying to get on in the world that they bring their claws out.

That's the wonderful thing about democracy: you can hold public office legitimately while still being despised by 49.9 percent of the suspicious eyes on the street.

And now everyone returning from an armed conflict is called a hero too. In the old days you had to commit specific acts of valor during war; now you just need to turn up. These days when a war is on, heroism seems to mean 'attendance.'