John Barnes (author)

"Yeats fussed about things falling apart and the center not being able to hold. What really happened was that the center ceased to exist altogether."

"With diligent effort he has established that there is no statistical basis for Murphy’s Law. He has also established that he believes in it anyway."

"Mother had been talking in that bizarre way a lot lately; it sounded like the Olsen novels, “back when men were full of manliness, fields were full of soybeans, small towns were full of hicks, and lif…"

"If you want to learn a culture, you have to learn how to like what it likes, rather than go looking for something that you like."

"Too bad about all those people, but as Hassan says, compassion speaks well of its holder but does little for its recipient."

"Human beings always say they prefer peace, but it takes a saint to talk us into not assaulting our neighbors."

"Once you understand what money can do it gets harder to live without it."

"Justice has a way of not arriving where and when you wish it."