If you have ever lost a loved one, then you know exactly how it feels. And if you have not, then you cannot possibly imagine it.

Every new promise was like something heavy I had to carry, with no place to put anything down.

This toast feels raw. Is it safe to eat raw toast?

I have produced things that I would say were sincerely cheerful. But then I am reminded by other people that no one else would see them that way.

It is difficult, when faced with a situation you cannot control, to admit you can do nothing.

Stealing, of course, is a crime, and a very impolite thing to do. But like most impolite things, it is excusable under certain circumstances. Stealing is not excusable if, for instance, you are in a museum and you decide that a certain painting would look better in your house, and you simply grab the painting and take it there. But if you were very, very hungry, and you had no way of obtaining money, it would be excusable to grab the painting, take it to your house, and eat it.

There are those who say that life is like a book, with chapters for each event in your life and a limited number of pages on which you can spend your time. But I prefer to think that a book is like a life, particularly a good one, which is well to worth staying up all night to finish.