“But this post-college world felt different from everything that had come before it; art was still central, but now everyone had to think about making a living too, and they did so with a kind of sc...”

“But, she knew, you didnt have to marry your soulmate, and you didnt even have to marry an Interesting. You didnt always need to be the dazzler, the firecracker, the one who cracked everyone up, or ...”

“There was no life Dennis burned to live except, it seemed, a life that wasn't depressed.”

“For while they'd stayed close during the absurd years of his sharp rise, having children had knocked it all into a different arrangement. The minute you had children you closed ranks. You didn't pl...”

“If someone said 'diametrically,' could 'opposed' be far behind?”

“Is there anything sadder than the scrawniest little piece of uneaten chicken at a dinner party?Hmm, said Jules. Yes. The Holocaust.”

“I'm the girl nobody knows until she commits suicide. Then suddenly everyone had a class with her.”

“It's okay. We aren't in the same class. Just don't forget that some of us watch the sunset too.”

“We are the same, you and I. Whether samurai or night-hawk, the Suruga Dainagon or member of the Toudouza, it makes no difference. My sword is the proof...."These words, wrung from the very depths o...”

“Hide not your talents, they for use were made,What's a sundial in the shade?”

“The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it. ”

“Talent is extremely common. What is rare is the willingness to endure the life of the writer.”