When I Start Any Book,

Hours Slide By Like Minutes. The Accumulated Clutter Of Day-to-day Existence — The Lapses Of Conscience, The Unpaid Bills, The Bungled Opportunities, The Dust Under The Couch, The Inescapable Prison Of Your Genes — All Of It Is Temporarily Forgotten, Crowded From Your Thoughts By An Overpowering Clarity Of Purpose And By The Seriousness Of The Task At Hand.

The Sad End He Met In Afghanistan Was More Accurately A Function Of His Stubborn Idealism - His Insistence On Trying To Do The Right Thing. In Which Case It Wasn't A Tragic Flaw That Brought Tillman Down, But A Tragic Virtue.

If You're Not A Feminist, You're Part Of The Problem.

The Thing That Is Most Beautiful About Antarctica For Me Is The Light. It's Like No Other Light On Earth, Because The Air Is So Free Of Impurities. You Get Drugged By It, Like When You Listen To One Of Your Favorite Songs. The Light There Is A Mood-enhancing Substance.

Straddling The Top Of The World, One Foot In China And The Other In Nepal, I Cleared The Ice From My Oxygen Mask, Hunched A Shoulder Against The Wind, And Stared Absently Down At The Vastness Of Tibet.