He was my first boyfriend, and I made him my everything - he was my new life, my new love, my new compass point. I guess that's the danger with firsts - you lose all sense of proportion.

Dispel, v. It was the way you said, “I have something to tell you.” I could feel the magic drain from the room.

You see, Dash -- I was never the girl in your head. And you were never the boy in my head. I think we both knew that. It's only when we try to make the girl or boy in our head real that the true trouble comes. I did that with Carlos, and it was a bad failure. Be careful what you're doing, because no one is ever who you want them to be. And the less you really know them, the more likely you are to confuse them with the girl or boy in your head.

Do not just seek happiness for yourself. Seek happiness for all. Through kindness. Through mercy.

I had always felt that mittens were a few steps back on the evolutionary scale-- why, I wondered, would we want to make ourselves into a less agile version of lobster.

His books are kept on freestanding shelves hung at different angles on a sea-green wall. They defy gravity, as good books should.

Answerless questions can destroy you. Move on.