“For my mothers entire life, her mother was less a mother than splintered bits of shrapnel she carried around in her body, sharp, rusty debris that threatened to puncture an organ if she turned a ce...”

“Novelty has a way of intensifying memory. The less often you do something, the deeper the memory burrows in.”

“There's more than one way to be a person. Actually, there are more than two or three ways. You'd think that was obvious, but I find that often it is not. The world is essentially a collection of te...”

“Life is mostly an exercise in being something other than what we used to be while remaining fundamentally and sometimes maddeningly who we are.”

“In the history of the world, a whole story has never been told.”

“I wonder if the real measure of "home" is the degree to which you can leave it alone. Maybe appreciating a house means knowing when to stop decorating. Maybe you've never really lived there until y...”

“Those whom we most love are often the most alien to us.”

“He felt now that he was not simply close to her, but that he did not know where he ended and she began.”

“Ivan tells Anna: "I used to imagine that being embraced by a woman . . . as something so wonderful that it would make me forget everthing . . . [But] happiness, it turns out, will be to share with ...”

“Promise YourselfTo be so strong that nothingcan disturb your peace of mind.To talk health, happiness, and prosperityto every person you meet.To make all your friends feelthat there is something in ...”

“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.”

“Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.”

“I dont want to talk as much, she said, denting her chin thoughtfully with her forefinger. Its nicer to think dear, pretty thoughts and keep them in ones heart, like treasures.”

“Rickie had a young man's reticence. He generally spoke of a friend, a person I know, a place I was at. When the book of life is opening, our readings are secret, and we are unwilling to give chapte...”

“I'll let the racket do the talking.”