It's less a matter of looking the other way than of closing our eyes to what we can't stop from happening.

Sadness was a very heavy thing.

A mouse who wishes to fool the cat doesn't simply scamper out of its hole whenever it feels the slightest urge.

I was thanking him for...well, for something I'm not sure I can explain even now. For showing me that something besides cruelty could be found in the world, I suppose.

Geisha because when I was living in Japan, I met a fellow whose mother was a geisha, and I thought that was kind of fascinating and ended up reading about the subject just about the same time I was getting interested in writing fiction.

I will think of you every time I need to be reminded that there is beauty and goodness in the world.

By the time we arrived, as evening was approaching, I felt as sore as a rock must feel when the waterfall has pounded on it all day long.