“And deep down, she felt like maybe she didn't deserve it-that she belonged with the petty thieves and guys who drank Pabst Blue Ribbon for breakfast”

“Over the years, I have been a house painter, farm worker, paste-up artist, Easter Bunny, pizza delivery person, homeless shelter staff member, and counselor for adults and kids with mental illness ...”

“I studied poetry in college and for a year in an MFA program. As time went on, my poems got more and more complicated. What I was really trying to do was tell stories.”

“Rosy waited as long as she dared then sat forward and let her eye rove Frannys lounge, up and down the shelves, looking for something, not even sure she could bring herself to act if she saw it aga...”

“Over the water of time I call to youIn a language I do not know.”

“Grandmam came back from that distance in time that separates grandmothers from their grandchildren and made herself a mother to me.”

“I'll say it: I want to see an ugly woman as a spokeswoman for a women's network. Ugly men are out there all the time look at Larry King, for God's sake. He looks like someone's talking underwear. ...”

“It was the way she looked at me the whole time. That look said more than she ever could and, in turn, scared me more than her words alone ever could.”

“The farther reason looks the greater is the haze in which it loses itself.”

“If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved.”

“As to diseases, make a habit of two things to help, or at least, to do no harm.”

“Health is wealth”