“a single-file army of ants biting a mammoth tree into uniform grains and hauling it down to the dark for their ravenous queen. and, in reply, a choir of seedlings arching their necks out of rotted ...”

“In Kilanga, people knew nothing of things they might have had - a Frigidaire? a washer-dryer combination? Really, they'd sooner imagine a tree that could pull up its feet and go bake bread. It didn...”

“A first child is your own best foot forward, and how you do cheer those little feet as they strike out. You examine every turn of flesh for precocity, and crow it to the world. But the last one: th...”

“Dont try to make life a mathematics problem with yourself in the center and everything coming out equal. When youre good, bad things can still happen. And if youre bad, you can still be lucky.”

“...whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. And peace will be with you.”

“There is a strange moment in time, after something horrible happens, when you know it's true, but you haven't told anyone yet.”

“You need to understand that you are not your appearance or your body”

“Women do not give a very favorable estimate of their appearance”

“It is complexes that prevent women with a good appearance from adequately assessing themselves”

“work at our responsibility as parents as if everything in life counted on it, because in fact everything in life does count on it.”

“Happiness [is] only real when shared”

“That's what people do who love you. They put their arms around you and love you when you're not so lovable.”