“We accept the love we think we deserve.”

“I would die for you. But I won't live for you.”

“There's nothing like deep breaths after laughing that hard. Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons.”

“What about when someone doesn't need a shoulder? What if they need the arms?”

“I don't want to be somebody's crush. If somebody likes me, I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am.”

“Things change. And friends leave. Life doesn't stop for anybody.”

“...a row of tables manned by seated, serious women. Each woman looked like she could be someone's least-favourite aunt.”

“On the big bed, Mamima and Sandeeps mother began to dream, sprawled in vivid crab-like postures. His aunt lay on her stomach, her arms bent as if she were swimming to the edge of a lake; his mother...”

“An aunt is a safe haven for a child. Someone who will keep your secrets and is always on your side.”

“Some experiences are universal. A girl is a girl whether she lives in West Omaha or Sweet Valley. Books are often far more than books.”

“A half-read book is a half-finished love affair.”

“The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,And all the sweet serenity of books”

“The seeking of a mate shall be undertaken with due preparation and care. A life-bond should never be contemplated as a light thing--unlike a legal union or sanctified joining, the sealing of souls ...”

“I dont have cookie-cutter relationships, Rumi. Women arent iPhone apps that I download and discard!”

“In advising the heads of state to learn from tragedy rather than perpetuate its existence Robert Kennedy excalimed, "Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live." ...”