In hell there is no other punishment than to begin over and over again the tasks left unfinished in your lifetime.

I'm not interested in absolute moral judgments. Just think of what it means to be a good man or a bad one. What, after all, is the measure of difference? The good guy may be 65 per cent good and 35 per cent bad—that's a very good guy. The average decent fellow might be 54 per cent good, 46 per cent bad—and the average mean spirit is the reverse. So say I'm 60 per cent bad and 40 per cent good—for that, must I suffer eternal punishment?

"Heaven and Hell make no sense if the majority of humans are a complex mixture of good and evil. There's no reason to receive a reward if you're 57/43—why sit around forever in an elevated version of Club Med? That's almost impossible to contemplate.

It is with noble sentiments that bad literature gets written

Not everyone can be an orphan.

It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for something you are not.

What would there be in a story of happiness? Only what prepares it, only what destroys it can be told.