a lot of human behavior was really acting out our responses to dangers long past.

So from then on, he looked at all his choices and said, What would a good person do, and then did it. But he has now learned something very important about human nature. If you spend your whole life pretending to be good, then you are indistinguishable from a good person. Relentless hypocrisy eventually becomes the truth.

Oh, people get used to so many things," said Vadesh, "if only they give them selves a chance.

Bean could see the hunger in their eyes. Not the regular hunger, for food, but the real hunger, the deep hunger, for family, for love, for belonging.

Of course they accused Marcão of having done it without provocation—that’s the way of torturers of every age, to put the blame on the victim, especially when he strikes back.

Is it some law of human nature that you inevitably become whatever your first commander was?

Because human nature never changes.