Mark Twain:

In my early manhood and in middle-life, I used to vex myself with reforms, every now and then. And I never had occasion to regret these divergencies, for whether the resulting deprivations were long or short, the rewarding pleasures which I got out of the vice when I returned to it, always paid me for all that it cost.

Benjamin Franklin:

It was about this time I conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection.

Decius:

Is our curse the endless pursuit of a happiness which can never be attained?

Cormac McCarthy:

Anything that doesn't take years of your life and drive you to suicide hardly seems worth doing.

Jonah Lehrer:

We've come to realize that we're not nearly as rational as we like to believe.

Paul Buchheit:

I try to avoid having plans for my life, but I have many ideas. Which ones actually happen will be a surprise to me. It's more fun that way.

Lauren Clark:

It's good to have a plan, but if something extraordinary comes your way, you should go for it.

Louis Kahn:

A good idea that doesn't happen is no idea at all.

Decius:

I said I'd do something about this, and I am.

Ed Tom Bell:

You can say it's my job to fight it but I don't know what it is anymore.

More than that, I don't want to know. A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He would have to say, okay, I'll be part of this world.

An exchange:

Ernie: Is there anything fluffier than a cloud?

Big Tom: If there is, I don't want to know about it.