“Everybody gets scared sometimes, May Belle. You don't have to be ashamed.”

“Sometimes it seemed to him that his life was delicate as a dandelion. One little puff from any direction, and it was blown to bits.”

“You think it's so great to die and make everyone cry and carry on. Well it ain't.”

“Crazy people who are judged to be harmless are allowed an enormous amount of freedom ordinary people are denied”

“I love revisionsWe cant go back and revise our lives, but being allowed to go back and revise what we have written comes closest.”

“Thus, in a real sense, I am constantly writing autobiography,but I have to turn it into fiction in order to give it credibility.”

“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”