There is no such thing as perpetual tranquillity of mind while we live here because life itself is but motion, and can never be without desire, nor without fear, no more than without sense. – Thomas Hobbes
The vehemence with which certain critics have chosen not simply to criticize what Ive written, but to challenge my writing this story at all, speaks of what the book is about: fear of disapproval. – Joyce Maynard
There is not to be found, in all history, any miracle attested by a sufficient number of men, of such unquestioned good sense, education and learning, as to secure us against all delusion in themselves. – David Hume
