A voice is a human gift; it should be cherished and used, to utter fully human speech as possible. Powerlessness and silence go together.

speech to him was a task, a battle, words mustered behind his beard and issued one at a time, heavy and square like tanks.

Should is a futile word. It's about what didn't happen. It belongs in a parallel universe. It belongs in another dimension of space.

The human voice can never reach the distance that is covered by the still small voice of conscience.

Debt is part of the human condition. Civilization is based on exchanges - on gifts, trades, loans - and the revenges and insults that come when they are not paid back.

You're never going to kill storytelling, because it's built into the human plan. We come with it.