Love

That was the night Agostino Vespucci fell in love for the first time, and understood that adoration was a journey too, that however determined he might be not to leave his native city he was doomed like all his footloose friends to walk down roads he did not know, the heart's pathways that would oblige him to enter places of danger, confront demons and dragons, and run the risk of losing not only his life but his soul as well.

p. 156, The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie, Nov/Dec 2010

Atheism

"If you were an atheist, Birbal," the emperor challenged his first minister, "what would you say to the true believers of all the great religions of the world?"..."I would say to them that in my opinion they were all atheists as well; I merely believe in one god less than each of them."  "How so?" the emperor asked.  "All true believers have good reasons for disbelieving in every god except their own," said Birbal, "and so it is they who, between them, give me all the reasons for believing in none."

p. 44, The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie, Nov/Dec 2010