The universe," says Wyvern, "is a Ph. D. thesis that God was unable to successfully defend. - James Morrow

When an upright citizen hears his neighbor has met with an earthquake or a hurricane, he doesn't stop to ask, 'Is there a hidden harmony here?' He rolls up his sleeves and tries to help."
"Exactly." With an athleticism that defied his years, Noah regained his feet and climbed onto the long, taut mooring line. "If I learned one thing from the Deluge, Your Grace, it is this: a man who seals up his ark for the sake of a greater good is a man who has ceded his soul to chaos." Slowly, cautiously, he tightrope-walked toward the rudderless vessel. "The hidden harmony defense is pornography, Bishop Augustine—pornography for priests!

I’ve gone insane, Michael decided, retrieving a cowhide-bound appointments book from his valise. Only certifiable schizophrenics showed meetings with God on their calendars.

Somehow his grandfather had wrought an honorable and glamorous life from the sea. But that era was gone. The system was dying. Advising a young man to join the United States Merchant Marine was like advising him to go into vaudeville.