At every moment, each instrument knew what to play. Its little bit. But none could see the whole thing like this, all at once, only its own part. Just like life. Each person was like a line of music, but nobody knew what the symphony sounded like. Only the conductor had the whole score.

A novel is like a dream in which everyone is you. They’re all parts of yourself.

This was the life I was going to be living, everybody separated from everybody else, hanging on for a moment only to be washed away.

Most people use twenty verbs to describe everything from a run in their stocking to the explosion of an atomic bomb. You know the ones: Was, did, had, made, went, looked... One-size-fits-all looks like crap on anyone. Sew yourself a custom made suit. Pick a better verb. Challenge all those verbs to really lift some weight for you.

Although she was giddy with exhaustion, sleep was a lover who refused to be touched.

Women always put men first. That's how everything got so screwed up.

It's such a liability to love another person.