The love between humans is the thing that nails us to the earth.

When well told, a story captured the subtle movement of change. If a novel was a map of a country, a story was the bright silver pin that marked the crossroads.

shame should be reserved for the things we choose to do, not the circumstances that life puts on us

There can be something cruel about people who have had good fortune. They equate it with personal goodness.

That is one thing I've learned, that it is possible to really understand things at certain points, and not be able to retain them, to be in utter confusion just a short while later. I used to think that once you really knew a thing, its truth would shine on forever. Now it's pretty obvious to me that more often than not the batteries fade, and sometimes what you knew even goes out with a bang when you try to call on it, just like a lightbulb cracking off when you throw the switch.

There was no one clear point of loss. It happened over and over again in a thousand small ways and the only truth there was to learn was that there was no getting used to it.

I love a large cast of characters. That's the way life is: it's flooded with people and we keep them all straight.