My father always told me: 'Give somebody a hand and he'll take an arm.

It made her think of Laika, the dog. The man-made satellite streaking soundlessly across the blackness of outer space. The dark, lustrous eyes of the dog gazing out the tiny window. In the infinite loneliness of space, what could the dog possibly be looking at?

Precipitate as weather, she appeared from somewhere, then evaporated, leaving only memory.

Some people can work their butts off and never get what they're aiming for while others can get it without any effort at all.

Strange and mysterious things, though, aren't they - earthquakes? We take it for granted that the earth beneath our feet is solid and stationary. We even talk about people being 'down to earth' or having their feet firmly planted on the ground. But suddenly one day we see that it isn't true. The earth, the boulders, that are supposed to be solid, all of a sudden turn as mushy as liquid - From the short story "Thailand

It seems to me that very sad things always contain an element of the comical

Deep rivers run quiet.