Lexical variety, eccentric constructions and punctuation, variant spellings, archaisms, the ability to pile clause on clause, the effortless incorporation of words from other languages: flexibility, and inclusiveness, is what makes English great; and diversity is what keeps it healthy and growing, exuberantly regenerating itself with rich new forms and usages.

Who was it said that coincidence was just God’s way of remaining anonymous?

Anything is grand if it's done on a large enough scale.

Still when I lost her, I lost sight of any landmark that might have led me someplace happier, to some more populated or congenial life.

Sometimes it's about playing a poor hand well.

Caring too much for objects can destroy you. Only—if you care for a thing enough, it takes on a life of its own, doesn’t it? And isn’t the whole point of things—beautiful things—that they connect you to some larger beauty?

...with a grief no less sharp for not being intimate with its object.