“People need each other. Our well-being is tightly tethered to the well-being of people we do not know, most of whom look nothing like ourselves. Happiness, I realized right there in breathing class...”

“Deep-rooted happiness may require a sense of purpose. If I don't feel that I am in some small way contributing to the greater good, holding on to happiness is like carrying water in my hands.”

“The wages of sin are death, but by the time taxes are taken out, it's just sort of a tired feeling.”

“It is my wish to die of unique causes, perhaps in a high-speed tricycle crash, a bizarre stapling incient, or as a result of inadvertently sucking my brains out through my ear while trying to untwi...”

“There are those wonderful moments of clarity in life when one is reminded how irreparably flawed we humans are. Once, when I was nineteen, on the subway in Boston I lost my balance slightly and bum...”

“The problem with cats is that they get the same exact look whether they see a moth or an ax-murderer.”

“This is so funny, said Ellen, noticing the seating arrangement. Isnt this funny? Tom, come sit next to Robin. Griffin, sit next to Laura. I stood up and sat next to Robin while Griffin brought his ...”

“In the early morning on the lake sitting in the stern of the boat with his father rowing, he felt quite sure that he would never die.”

“If you are a boat and your lake is frozen, what can you do? You will wait for the spring! We are lucky that we are humans, we dont have to wait for the spring; we can break the ice if necessary, we...”

“The lake of my mind, unbroken by oars, heaves placidly and soon sinks into an oily somnolence. That will be useful.”

“The water. The lake. It flows through our veins, and there's nothing we can do about it It's like venom.”

“She felt a strong pull toward the water and it was more than curiosity”

“The more clearly you understand yourself and your emotions, the more you become a lover of what is.”

“There are only two ways to live your life: as though nothing is a miracle, or as though everything is a miracle.”

“The moral of the tale is, don't live for the approval of others. The real you is here to find out the secret of life, not to satisfy someone else's opinion.”