Graham Greene, The Heart of the Matter

"He gave her a bright fake smile; so much of life was a putting off of unhappiness for another time. Nothing was ever lost by delay. He had a dim idea that perhaps if one delayed long enough, things were taken out of one's hands altogether by death."

"There was a tacit understanding between them that 'liquor helped'; growing more miserable with every glass one hoped for the moment of relief."

"We are all resigned to death: it's life we aren't resigned to."

"You must promise me. You can't desire the end without desiring the means.'Ah, but one can, he thought, one can: one can desire the peace of victory without desiring the ravaged towns."

"Point me out the happy man and I will point you out either extreme egotism, selfishness, evil -- or else an absolute ignorance."