Of the gladdest moments in human life, methinks, is the departure upon a distant journey into unknown lands. Shaking off with one mighty effort the fetters of Habit, the leaden weight of Routine, the cloak of many Cares and the slavery of Civilization, man feels once more happy.

Buy potatoes,_ he said. __otta hop._ Then he hung up. Of course. A cloud of fallout would threaten European food and water supplies, including the potato crop, placing a premium on uncontaminated American substitutes. Perhaps a few folks other than potato farmers think of the price of potatoes in America minutes after the explosion of a nuclear reactor in Russian, but I have never met them.

It was the job of people like me to make up reasons, to spin a plausible yarn. And it__ amazing what people will believe. Heavy selling out of the Middle East was an old standby. Since no one ever had any clue what the Arabs were doing with their money or why, no story involving Arabs could ever be refuted. So if you didn__ know why the dollar was falling, you shouted out something about Arabs.

He shouted into the phone, __hat is fuckin_ awesome. I mean fuckin_ awesome. I fuckin_ mean fucking awesome. You are one Big Swinging Dick, and don__ ever let anybody tell you different._ It brought tears to my eyes to hear it, to be called a Big Swinging Dick by the man who, years ago, had given birth to the distinction and in my mind had the greatest right to confer it upon me.

The difference between Strauss and Ranieri?_ says one trader still at Salomon. __hat__ easy. Strauss wouldn__ stoop to use the men__ room on the trading floor. He__ go upstairs. Lewie would piss on your desk.

_, Sunlight! The most precious gold to be found on Earth.