I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams.

—William Shakespeare, Hamlet

 

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.

—Abraham Lincoln

 

Had he known nothing of what had gone on? In that case, he must be an idiot. Had he been part of it? In that case, he must be a criminal. Had he known, yet done nothing? In that case, he must be a coward. The choices—idiot, criminal, or coward—left him depressed.

—Joseph E. Persico, Nuremberg: Infamy on Trial

 

You sign on for the ride you probably think you got at least some notion of where the ride’s goin’. But you might not. Or you might of been lied to. Probably nobody would blame you then. If you quit. But if it’s just that it turned out to be a little roughern what you had in mind. Well. That’s some- thing else.

—Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men