She felt as if the mosaic she had been assembling out of life's little shards got dumped to the ground, and there was no way to put it back together.

The road to enlightenment is long and difficult, and you should try not to forget snacks and magazines.

Grief, as I read somewhere once, is a lazy Susan. One day it is heavy and underwater, and the next day it spins and stops at loud and rageful, and the next day at wounded keening, and the next day numbness, silence.

You can get the monkey off your back, but the circus never leaves town

I don't remember who said this, but there really are places in the heart you don't even know exist until you love a child.

There is nothing you can buy, achieve, own, or rent that can fill up that hunger inside for a sense of fulfillment and wonder.

Intelligence, goodness, humanity, excitement, serenity. Over time, these are the things that change the musculature of your face, as do laughter, and animation, and especially whatever peace you can broker with the person inside. It's furrow, pinch, and judgement that make us look older - our mothers were right. They said that if you made certain faces, they would stick, and they do. But our mothers forgot that faces of kindness and integrity stick as well.