There were plenty of women around who dressed smartly, and plenty more who dressed to impress, but this girl was different. Totally different. She wore her clothing with such utter naturalness and grace that she could have been a bird that had wrapped itself in a special wind as it made ready to fly off to another world. He had never seen a woman who wore her clothes with such apparent joy. And the clothes themselves looked as if, in being draped on her body, they had won new life for themselves.

Somewhere in his body--perhaps in the marrow of his bones--he would continue to feel her absence.

Concentration is one of the happiest things in my life.

My grandpa always said asking a question is embarrassing for a moment, but not asking is embarrassing for a lifetime.

We were young, and we had no need for prophecies. Just living was itself an act of prophecy.

I’ve never once thought about how I was going to die,” she said. “I can’t think about it. I don’t even know how I’m going to live.

Loneliness becomes an acid that eats away at you.