“How often since then has she wondered what might have happened if she'd tried to remain with him; if shed returned Richard's kiss on the corner of Bleeker and McDougal, gone off somewhere (where?) ...”

“I don't think two people could have been happier than we have been.”

“What she wants to say has to do not only with joy but with the penetrating, constant fear that is joy's other half.”

“Beauty is a whore, I like money better.”

“Dead, we are revealed in our true dimensions, and they are surprisingly modest.”

“We throw our parties; we abandon our families to live alone in Canada; we struggle to write books that do not change the world, despite our gifts and our unstinting efforts, our most extravagant ho...”

“It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.”

“If I am going to be drownedif I am going to be drownedif I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and t...”

“I'm an Earth ecstatic, and my creed is simple: All life is sacred, life loves life, and we are capable of improving our behavior toward one another. As basic as that is, for me it's also tonic and ...”

“I am neither male nor female, nor am I sexless. I am the Peaceful One, whose form is self-effulgent, powerful radiance.”

“You have peace," the old woman said, "when you make it with yourself.”

“Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.”