“Harvey wanted to dive into his ugliness; he intentionally reached for those long hours of soul desolation. He waited. He paced, ready to face down whatever was to come.Paulettes, though, busted loo...”

“Paulette awoke with an ache in her heart, a grinding in her gut. If there really was a God, why would He have let anyone put a child through that? She had survived, but at what cost? She was an iti...”

“Forgiveness doesnt make one person better, or the other guy smaller. Forgiving is just letting go. Its turning back toward being what we really are.”

“Life is about trying to find our ways back to our one shared soul. When were looking out at the stars, were looking into ourselves.”

“Ancient philosophers and spiritual teachers were explorers. They wanted us to be as well. They thought we should understand this physical world, but not get stuck here. For thousands of years we ha...”

“Paulette had never been flush with self-confidence. People took that as humility, but humility isnt painful and crippling. She hadnt yet learned that humble and self-destructive arent the same thin...”

“Bah! You want to hear the vilest thing a mans done and you want him to be a hero at the same time!”

“Underneath the groundyou can't hear a soundnot even the sweet falling rainyou might forget about tomorrowforget about the swallowsbut they won't forget youthey won't forget you”

“Thinking, like other drugs, can be a useful distraction from pain, as long as it's managed and doesn't become an addiction.”

“Sometimes two people have to fall apart, to realize how much they need to fall back together.”

“Good literature is one key to peace. When we stop reading each other, when we stop paying attention to each other's words and stories, we too easily oppose one another.”

“There is only one motive for writing a novel: to be published and read. To me there is no distinction between the mystery novel and the novel, only between good books and bad books. A good book tak...”

“Today I want to belong. I want to feel safe and at home. I want to be aware of what it is like simply to be, without defenses or desires. I will appreciate the flow of life for what it is-my own tr...”

“Nature reflects the moods of the wizard.”

“My calling ties me to no office, makes me no man's slave, compels me to no action which my soul condemns. It sets me free from town life, which I loathe; and allows me to breathe clean air, to exer...”