The world is full of ways and means to waste time.


Haruki Murakami, Dance, Dance, Dance

Te spectem, suprema mihi cum venerit hora,
Et teneam moriens deficiente manu.

(May I be looking at you when my last hour has come,
And dying may I hold you with my weakening hand.)

Tibullus

She hated the urgency with which some people read newspapers, their belief that the mere knowledge of certain events - belated, incomplete, and often false knowledge - made them active participants in society.

Lara Vapnyar, "Fischer vs Spassky," in The New Yorker of October 8, 2012

Despite knowing what it takes to be content, a man might still be unhappy.

Orhan Pamuk, My Name Is Red

To God belongs the East and the West.  May He protect us from the will of the pure and unadulterated.

Orhan Pamuk, My Name Is Red

Sometimes it is not wise to persist in explaining oneself.

Amitay Ghosh, River of Smoke.

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements--surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Job 38:4-7

I can see, he said, that you are about to make obvious remarks.

James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man