To marry was to say you believed in the future and in the past, too-that history and tradition and hope could stay knit together to hold you up.

It was our favorite part of the day, this in-between time, and it always seemed to last longer than it should--a magic and lavender space unpinned from the hours around it, between worlds.

My life was my life; I would have to stare it down, somehow, and make it work for me.

Sometimes I wish we could rub out all of our mistakes and start fresh, from the beginning,' I said. 'And sometimes I think there isn't anything to us but our mistakes.

Maybe happiness was an hourglass already running out, the grains tipping, sifting past each other. Maybe it was a state of mind.

If I can write one sentence, simple and true every day, I'll be satisfied.

I miss good old-fashioned honorable people just trying to make something of life. Simply, without hurting anyone else. I know that makes me a sap.

Dogs are easy. If their tails are up and their eyes are soft, you're in.

Not everyone out in a storm wants to be saved

I'd had my share of rain. My mother's illness ... had weighed on me, but the years before had been heavy, too. I was only twenty eight.

She was also incredibly confident, with a way of moving and talking that communicated that she didn't need anyone to tell her she was beautiful or worthwhile.

It is better to sing songs of hope than to sing songs of misery.

If every one of us spreads the message of love, compassion, kindness and forgiveness, peace will be there.

Mathematicians deal with large numbers sometimes, but never in their income.

Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

Ever at Thy glowing altar Must my heart grow sick and falter, Wishing He I served were black.

Writing a book is the most difficult, anxiety-prone aspect of my life because the words that I put on paper are very serious to me.

A chimpanzee who is really gearing up for a fight doesn't waste time with gestures but just goes ahead and attacks.

One must conquer, achieve, get to the top; one must know the end to be convinced that one can win the end - to know there's no dream that mustn't be dared. . .

I have a bet with my mom that involves a little money, and if I have too many turnovers, she gets in my pocket. I'm afraid of that for sure.

We are all lone souls. It pays to know humility, lest the delusion of control, of mastery, overwhelms. And, indeed, we seem a species prone to that delusion, again and ever again." ~Fiddler, pg. 558