“How often since then has she wondered what might have happened if she'd tried to remain with him; if shed returned Richard's kiss on the corner of Bleeker and McDougal, gone off somewhere (where?) ...”

“I don't think two people could have been happier than we have been.”

“You cannot find peace by avoiding life.”

“What she wants to say has to do not only with joy but with the penetrating, constant fear that is joy's other half.”

“Beauty is a whore, I like money better.”

“Dead, we are revealed in our true dimensions, and they are surprisingly modest.”

“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”