Greenleaf Book Group

“The basic physical-attraction axiom (we called it the ‘special theory of physical attraction’) is that the attractiveness of a girl is inversely proportional to your attractiveness to her. And the second law (the ‘general theory’) is equally true and immutable: The number of girls you find attractive is inversely proportional to the number who find you attractive.”
― J. William Lewis, The Essence of Nathan Biddle

“It was like a race we’d tried to run until we discovered that there was no finish line.”
― J. William Lewis, The Essence of Nathan Biddle

“He leaned forward over the creek trying to maneuver the head of the retriever and then suddenly lost his footing and stepped off the bank into Catawpa Creek. He stood there in knee-deep water looking distressed and helpless but also strangely indignant. The younger guy looked like an obstetrician who’d dropped the baby.”
― J. William Lewis, The Essence of Nathan Biddle

“I still don’t know whether Newt was serious, but the theory, which Newt called the Third Law of Hedonics (he never revealed the first and second laws), is that for every pleasure there is an equal and opposite pain. Conversely, according to the theory, for every pain there is an equal and opposite pleasure. Thus, pain and pleasure always balance out, so that a person can take heart in travail because he’s building up an account of pleasure due, which means that, at the appropriate time, he will become the beneficiary of a compensating joy.”
― J. William Lewis, The Essence of Nathan Biddle