I hadn’t been paying much attention to things like the sunrise, but that old sun had been coming up anyway. It didn’t really care how I felt, it was going to rise and set regardless of whether I noticed it, and if I was going to enjoy it, that was up to me.

Nobody's perfect. We're all just one step up from the beasts and one step down from the angels.

But I also hoped that [she] had chosen California because she thought that was her true home, the place where she really belonged, where it was always warm and you could dance in the rain, pick grapes right off the vines, and sleep outside at night under the stars.

Horses are a mirror of who you are. They're emotionally dependent on you.

You West Virginia girls are one tough breed," he said. You got that right," I told him.

She never felt sorry for herself, and that was something I decided I admired most in people.

Too much hard luck can create a permanent meanness of spirit in any creature.