She died chasing greatness and never saw it each time it was in her hand, so she kept seeking it elsewhere, but never understood the work required to get it or to keep it.

Life for the Italians was what it was, no more and no less, an interlude between meals

I was taking care of people my age who were dying. The constant feeling, hearing from them, was that life is transient and can end very quickly, so don't postpone your dreams.

There is a point when grief exceeds the human capacity to emote, and as a result one is strangely composed-

She felt the familiar calmness of an emergency, but she understood the falseness of that feeling, now that it was her life at stake.

My VIP patients often regret so many things on their deathbeds. They regret the bitterness they'll leave in people's hearts. They realize the no money, no church service, no eulogy, no funeral procession no matter how elaborate, can remove the legacy of a mean spirit.

Ignorance was just as dynamic as knowledge, and it grew in the same proportion.