During a warm winter rain ... the basins of her collarbones collected water.

If you talk to geneticists they are constantly finding that your genes are being switched on and off because of the environment. Genes alone do not determine an exact path in your life.

College wasn't like the real world. In the real world people dropped names based on their renown. In college, people dropped names based on their obscurity.

No matter how long your've been at it, you always start from scratch.

I have a good memory for early life. My visual memory is good about childhood and adolescence, and less good in the last 10 years. I could probably tell you less what happened in the last 10 years. I remember what houses looked like, sometimes they just pop into my head.

Capitalism has resulted in material well-being but spiritual bankruptcy.

It was possible to feel superior to other people and feel like a misfit at the same time.