I understood that the man I was calling for could never ever come back. Because I understood that the man that I was calling for was dead.

Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.

You have to be a warrior and say, "Maybe it's everyone else's system, but it's not mine." (from her recent interview here, on Goodreads)

I was raised by my parents to believe that you had a moral obligation to try and save the world. You sent money to the Red Cross, you registered people to vote, you marched in rallies, stood in vigils, picked up litter.

Every time I see the bumper sticker that says “We think we’re humans having spiritual experiences, but we’re really spirits having human experiences,” I (a) think it’s true and (b) want to ram the car.

When I was young, I used to be so jealous of other girls that it crippled me.

... the reason life works at all is that not everyone in your tribe is nuts on the same day. [pp. 65-66]