What kind of dog is that?" I would always give the same answer: "She's a brown dog." Similarly, when the question is raised, "What kind of God do you believe in?" my answer is easy: "I believe in a magnificent God.

The thing I love about Dickens is the omniscient, omnipotent narrator, and the great confidence of the narrator, which marks 19th-century novelists in general and Dickens in particular.

To be fully seen by somebody, then, and be loved anyhow - this is a human offering that can border on miraculous.

You write fiction, you're writing memoir, and when you're writing memoir, you're writing fiction.

But never again use another person's body or emotions as a scratching post for your own unfulfilling yearnings.

Every woman deserves a man that can make her heart forget that it was ever broken. Even if these have been broken to pieces to me,this represents a person who gave me a complete,flawless heart. I don't need someone who makes my heart whole. Instead, I need someone who will never let me feel broken. This is a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we have tried for something.

Well, just remember--all your misery will be waiting for you at the door upon your exit, should you care to pick it up again when you leave.