writers do not choose their subjects; their subjects choose them.

In a bad marriage, friends are the invisible glue. If we have enough friends, we may go on for years, intending to leave, talking about leaving -instead of actually getting up and leaving.

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

I have a very sensitive nose. I identify with dogs. I understand the world through my nose.

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.

we all carry the Houses of our Youth inside, and our Parents, too, grown small enough to fit within our Hearts.

People are terrified. A lot of them are in relationships that aren't satisfying, and if you tell them they can change their life, they get really scared.