Let everyone see the blood,' he said. 'Don't clean it up. That's the only way people remember.'... I could see the blood inside my head. It was with me forever, whether or not I wanted to forget.

What else is there to write about than love and loss?

Still anyone who trusts a serpent deserves its bite. The wise see a creature for what it is, not what it says it may be.

Women know things that men will never know. We keep the best secrets. We tell the best stories.

Love is worth the sum of itself, and nothing more.

I heard a sigh, as though the books were breathing. I felt that this was where I belonged. This was where I lived.

Young Sally Owens: He will hear my call a mile away. He will whistle my favorite song. He can ride a pony backwards. Young Gillian Owens: What are you doing? Young Sally Owens: Summoning up a true love spell called Amas Veritas. He can flip pancakes in the air. He'll be marvelously kind. And his favorite shape will be a star. And he'll have one green eye and one blue. Young Gillian Owens: Thought you never wanted to fall in love. Young Sally Owens: That's the point. The guy I dreamed of doesn't exist. And if he doesn't exist I'll never die of a broken heart.