“All this wondering was the weather vane on top of the building of unrest and of discontent”

“A large drop of sun lingered on the horizon and then dripped over and was gone, and the sky was brilliant over the spot where it had gone, and a torn cloud, like a bloody rag, hung over the spot of...”

“A water snake glided smoothly up the pool, twisting its periscope head from side to side; and it swam the length of the pool and came to the legs of a motionless heron that stood in the shadows. A ...”

“It is not only the size of these redwoods but their strangeness that frightens them. And why not? For these are the last remaining members of a race that flourished over four continents as far back...”

“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.”

“She seemed to know, to accept, to welcome her position, the citadel of the family, the strong place that could not be taken. And since old Tom and the children could not know hurt or fear unless sh...”

“Money does not change the sickness, only the symptoms.”

“They got to live before they can afford to die.”

“An' I got to thinkin', on'y it wasn't thinkin', it was deeper down than thinkin'.”

“I thought you were mad at me.""I am.""Well, I make it a rule never to have sex with anyone who's mad at me."He arched a brow. "It's a wonder you've ever had sex at all.”

“They certified that I was sane; but I know that I am mad." This confession gives us the key to what is most important and significant in Tolstoy's hidden life.”

“It is ridiculous - like a mad whirlwind... it's mad that I'm so famous.”

“But compare the hardest day's work you ever did with the idleness that splits flowers and pokes its way into spiders' stomachs, and thank your stars that your head has got something it must think o...”

“Reading is awesome. Just escaping into someone else's life, into another world. In books, everything is possible.”

“I hope I take up the cause of all oppressed people rather warmly.”