"I see nothing but distress, disorder and madness everywhere; but justice mocked, but the right betrayed, but falsehood. And I wonder what life could bring me that matters, what does all this mean? What is it all going to lead to, and the rest? In what an absurd mess humanity is sinking, how and where to escape?" --Andre Gide (1936)

"The madness of one man is terrible enough, the madness of millions... is unbearable... one has to build private shelters against it not to be contaminated and maddened by it." --Anais Nin (1942)

"I loathe politics. Because of politics, all that I love is in danger; it is a menace to individual liberty, a menace to happiness, it disturbs my work. I wholeheartedly believe in works of literature and works of art. This belief is entirely foreign to political preoccupations." --Julien Green (1932)

"Singer studied 141 three- and four-year olds, and found that 65% reported having imaginary playmates. The children who reported having such companions were less aggressive, more cooperative, smiled more, were better able to concentrate, were less frequently bored, and were more linguistically advanced than their companionless cohorts. They were clearly cognizant of the difference between external reality and the worlds of their imagination..." from Invisible Guests by Mary Watkins

United States loses fight to block U.N. vote on torture convention (but the battle's not over yet)