He could do only one thing at a time. If he held her, he couldn't kiss her. If he kissed her, he couldn't see her. If he saw her, he couldn't feel her.

That's what careless words do. They make people love you a little less.

If you're happy in a dream, does that count?

This was the trouble with families. Like invidious doctors, they knew just where it hurt.

Flat muscled and honey coloured. Sea secrets in his eyes. A silver raindrop in his ear.

When she listened to songs that she loved on the radio, something stirred inside her. A liquid ache spread under her skin, and she walked out of the world like a witch.

His gratitude widened his smile and bent his back.

Heaven opened and the water hammered down, reviving the reluctant old well, greenmossing the pigless pigsty, carpet bombing still, tea-colored puddles the way memory bombs still, tea-colored minds.

Her collarbones like wings that spread from the base of her throat to the ends of her shoulders. A bird held down by skin.

To understand history, ' Chacko said, 'we have to go inside and listen to what they're saying. And look at the books and the pictures on the wall. And smell the smells.

How history negotiates its terms and collects its dues from those who break its laws.

When we squander the moments of our lives, Peter, we are spending the most valuable currency.

The places of quiet are going away, the churches, the woods, the libraries. And it is only in silence we can hear the voice inside of us which gives us true peace.

Perseverance is always the way to go. You have to stay mentally prepared. You have to make sure you have some self discipline in order to recover from injuries.

I am a winged creature who is too rarely allowed to use its wings. Ecstasies do not occur often enough.

The teacher, whether mother, priest, or schoolmaster, is the real maker of history.

The Federal Budget can and should be made an instrument of prosperity and stability, not a deterrent to recovery.

Being happy in your skin that's what it's all about.

Movements, like films, depend on word of mouth.

The most pitiful human ailment is a birdseed heart.