She supposed that houses, after all - like the lives that were lived in them - were mostly made of space. It was the spaces, in fact, which counted, rather than the bricks.

And perhaps there is a limit to the grieving that the human heart can do. As when one adds salt to a tumbler of water, there comes a point where simply no more will be absorbed.

I barely knew I had skin before I met you.

Being in love, you know... it's not like having a canary, in a cage. When you lose one sweetheart, you can't just go out and get another to replace her.

Even ashes are a part of your freedom.

I knew Id always be a second-rate academic, and I thought, Well, Id rather be a second-rate novelist or even a third-rate one.

I do love the past but wouldnt want to live in it.

Why do gentlemen's voices carry so clearly, when women's are so easily stifled?

Why is it we can never love the people we ought to?

I never expected my books to do even as well as they have. I still feel grateful for it, every single day.

With every step I took away from her, the movement at my heart and between my legs grew more defined: I felt like a ventriloquist, locking his protesting dolls in to a trunk.

Use social media for good and lift others up, not tear them down. Stay on the high road. Keep your peace.

So young and yet already carrying a great burden on her shoulders. Do not worry, my dear, I will make sure you can protect yourself and others. Because you are our hope … sweet, darling … Arima.

Death is the solution to all problems. No man - no problem.

In spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser and happier as a result.

I always knew I didn't want kids, and I didn't want to get married.

Good food is a celebration of life, and it seems absurd to me that in celebrating life we should take life. That is why I don't eat flesh. I see no need for killing.

Misfortune is a fact of nature acceptable to women, especially when it falls on other women.

Environmentally, the planet will not sustain the kind of abuse it receives at our hands.

I quickly learned to take anger and use it to motivate me. My sister ran away from home, and she was my world. And that was that. The guitar became my world.

I don’t want to lose my memories. Don’t make me forget. I would rather die as Elena, than live as a shadow.