“Youre in a car with a beautiful boy, and he wont tell you that he loves you, but he loves you. And you feel like youve done something terrible, like robbed a liquor store, or swallowed pills, or sh...”

“Eventually something you love is going to be taken away. And then you will fall to the floor crying. And then, however much later, it is finally happening to you: youre falling to the floor crying ...”

“Who am I? I'm just a writer. I write things down. I walk through your dreams and invent the future. Sure, I sink the boat of love, but that comes later. And yes, I swallow glass, but that comes later.”

“A man walks into a bar and says: Take my wifeplease. So you do. You take her out into the rain and you fall in love with her and she leaves you and youre desolate.Youre on your back in your undersh...”

“He could build a city. Has a certain capacity. Theres a niche in his chestwhere a heart would fit perfectlyand he thinks if he could just maneuver one into place well then, game over.”

“I wanted to explain myself to myself in an understandable way. I gave shape to my fears and made excuses. I varied my velocities, watched myselves sleep. Something's not right about what I'm doing ...”

“It's like I'm thirteen again and he's my crush. All I'm aware of in this entire roomful of people is him. Where he is, what he's doing, who he's talking to.”

“Can't you just like a girl who likes you back?''None of them likes me back. I may as well like the one I really want.”

“She blushed and so did he. She greeted him in a faltering voice, and he spoke to her without knowing what he was saying.”

“Im not a woman you bring home to Mother, pick out china patterns with, or Mary forefend, breed. Ive seen a chunk of the universe, true, but theres still so much more to see. I doubt Ill ever cure t...”

“My hope, my heaven, my trust must be,My gentle guide, in following thee.”

“Amory took to writing poetry on spring afternoons, in the gardens of the big estates near Princeton, while swans made effective atmosphere in the artificial pools, and slow clouds sailed harmonious...”