How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The separate skill, apart from the rest of him: he had found the right thing, and Mr. Tagomi would be mollified and his client, whoever he was, would be overjoyed. I always give satisfaction, Childan thought. To my customers. (2.47)
According to Childan, his special skill is his ability to find the perfect item for his clients. And yet check out that last thought. How depressing is it that Childan notes that he can give satisfaction to his customers? What about friends and loved ones? Friendship isn't a skill of his.
Quote #2
"You're as good with that flex-cable machine as anybody on the Coast. I've seen you whip out a piece in five minutes, including the rouge polishing. All the way from the rough Cratex. And except for the welding—"
"I never said I could weld," Frink said.
"Did you ever think of going into business on your own?" (4.14-6)
For all his excellent skills as an artisan—gosh, all the way from the rough Cratex?—Frank Frink isn't super-skilled in coming up with new ideas. For instance, it takes Ed to come up with the idea of starting their own business. Are all of these skill quotes going to point out characters' flaws as well?
Quote #3
Depending as always on his own wit, his ability to talk his way out of anything. If Heydrich sends a squad to do him in, Reiss reflected, the Little Doctor will not only argue them out of it, he will probably persuade them to switch over. (8.8)
All the important Nazis stay off-screen in this book—they're back in Germany doing Nazi things. But we do hear a lot about them, both in the lecture that Tagomi attends (Chapter 6), and from Reiss's thoughts. As Reiss noted (see "Themes: Art and Culture"), Goebbels's main skill is his ability to persuade people, which seems to Reiss to be the most useful skill of all.