Some things are too terrible to grasp at once. Other things - naked, sputtering, indelible in their horror - are too terrible to really grasp ever at all.It is only later, in solitude, in memory that the realization dawns: when the ashes are cold; when the mourners have departed; when one looks around and finds oneself - quite to one's surprise - in an entirely different world.
Donna TarttA great sorrow, and one that I am only beginning to understand: we donโt get to choose our own hearts. We canโt make ourselves want whatโs good for us or whatโs good for other people. We donโt get to choose the people we are.
Donna TarttBut how,โ said Charles, who was close to tears, โhow can you possibly justify cold-blooded murder?โ Henry lit a cigarette. โI prefer to think of it,โ he had said, โas redistribution of matter.
Donna TarttIt's funny, but thinking back on it now, I realize that this particular point in time, as I stood there blinking in the deserted hall, was the one point at which I might have chosen to do something very much different from what I actually did. But of course I didn't see this crucial moment for what it actually was; I suppose we never do. Instead, I only yawned, and shook myself from the momentary daze that had come upon me, and went on my way down the stairs.
Donna Tartt