and she had succeeded, on the second try, in hurling herself out of the world

We knew, finally, that the girls were really women in disguise, that they understood love and even death, and that our job was merely to create the noise that seemed to fascinate them.

Biology gives you a brain. Life turns it into a mind.

When I wrote The Virgin Suicides, I gave myself very strict rules about the narrative voice: the boys would only be able to report what they had seen or found or what had been told to them.

Basically what we have here is a dreamer. Somebody out of touch with reality. When she jumped, she probably thought she'd fly

It was one of those humid days when the atmosphere gets confused. Sitting on the porch, you could feel it: the air wishing it was water.

In the end, the tortures tearing the Lisbon girls pointed to a simple reasoned refusal to accept the world as it was handed down to them, so full of flaws.

Depression is like a bruise that never goes away. A bruise in your mind. You just got to be careful not to touch it where it hurts. It's always there, though.

You never get over it, but you get to where it doesn't bother you so much.

It was like autumn, looking at her. it was like driving up north to see the colors.

She held herself very straight, like Audrey Hepburn, whom all women idolize and men never think about.

Just following orders' is no excuse unless you're in the bedroom.

When it comes to death, procrastination is encouraged.

The evening starIs the mostbeautifulof all stars

You can't expect to win unless you know why you lose.

We're never as good as we think we are, nor as bad as we think we are.

I'ma forgive all the people that took my kindness as weakness. I'ma forgive anyone who never hit me back. I'ma forgive all ya'll. I won't forget.

If you double count some votes, that makes other votes disenfranchised.

If Americans were attacked, it does change the equation. The problem is, is that with regard to this is there've been horrendous killings of civilians with conventional weapons.

My advice: Don't quit. When I got to New York City, I lived so far below the poverty line, because I didn't give in and get a job at 7-Eleven. I think you can thrive in misery.

I parked in the tow-away zone, and when I got back, the entire neighborhood was gone.