We're all islands shouting lies to each other across seas of misunderstanding.

艺术是最高形式的希望。

求知若饥，虚心若愚。

释义：眼睛随便乱看就会使你惑乱，耳朵随意乱听就会使你迷惑，嘴巴随意胡说就会给你带来乱子。警示人们在日常生活中要保持谨言慎行的态度，以免招来祸患。

Those who do not have power over the story that dominates their lives, the power to retell it, rethink it, deconstruct it, joke about it, and change it as they change, truly are powerless, because they cannot think new thoughts.

南怀瑾：诸法的本来面目就是空相，诸法的实相亦是空相，诸法未曾离开空相，故云是诸法空相……一切法的实相是空，是故一切法从本以来，不生不灭，不垢不净，不增不减。

The novel is not the author's confession; it is an investigation of human life in the trap the world has become.

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.