a prototypic American, one whose view of honor and dignity was circumscribed by lust for gain. He thought of Americans as a decadent people whose idea of refinement is fluffy toilet paper. Affluent children who race about their highways, playing with their CB radios, pretending to be World War II pilots. Where is the fiber in a people whose best-selling poet is Rod McKuen, the Howard Cosell of verse?

Trevanian, Shibumi: A Novel [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library]

Hermetic quote Trevanian Shibumi prototypic American honor dignity circumscribed lust gain decadent people refinement fluffy toilet paper affluent children Rod McKuen Howard Cosell verse

Consider also:

  1. “The soldier is applauded who refuses to serve in an unjust war by those who do not refuse to sustain the unjust government which makes the war”
  2. “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity”
  3. The Man Who Loved Mars
  4. “I think Bunny wants to forget she ever had a life before this one. Believe me, I understand, it just surprises me. Out of all of us, I figured she would know that the name you’re born with has nothing to do with who you are.”
  5. “In place of ethics, they have rules. Size functions for them as quality functions for us. What for us is honor and dishonor, for them is winning and losing.”