Can't you ever be serious?' I said, mortified. 'It's difficult,' he said. 'There's so little in life that's worth it.

Everyone has a story. I don't believer anyone can go through life without encountering at least one amazing thing.

Girls have to be toughened so they can survive a world that presses harder on women.

I saw something I hadn't realized before: words wasted energy. I would use my strength instead to nurture my belief that my life would unfurl uniquely.

Can't you ever be serious?' I said, mortified. 'It's difficult,' he said. 'There's so little in life that's worth it.

...don't create snakes out of ropes. You have enough to worry about.

The heart itself is beyond control. That is its power, and its weakness.