The hardest part is believing in yourself at the notebook stage. It is like believing in dreams in the morning.

There is no loneliness like the loneliness of a dead marriage.

Love is serene and calm

I'm not classically pretty; I've always been too heavy; I've had thyroid disease and it's very hard for me to lose weight - but I've always had men pursue me. I've always had that 'it' thing. God knows why. Maybe it's pheromones, I don't know.

A book burrows into your life in a very profound way because the experience of reading is not passive.

My generation had Doris Day as a role model, then Gloria Steinem--then Princess Diana. We are the most confused generation.

It was easy enough to kill yourself in a fit of despair. It was easy enough to play the martyr. It was harder to do nothing. To endure your life. To wait.