She shrugged. "You can be happy for someone else's good fortune, but that doesn't mean you forget your own bad luck.

Some women are meant to change the world, while others are meant to hold it together. And then there are those of us who simply don't want to be in it, because we know no matter how much we struggle, we can't comfortably fit.

remember that every fire will burn itself out, even without your help.

Since it had gotten so quiet in the room that you could hear the sound of your own doubts.

When you love someone, you say their name different. Like it's safe inside your mouth.

Africa - You can see a sunset and believe you have witnessed the Hand of God. You watch the slope lope of a lioness and forget to breathe. You marvel at the tripod of a giraffe bent to water. In Africa, there are iridescent blues on the wings of birds that you do not see anywhere else in nature. In Africa, in the midday heart, you can see blisters in the atmosphere. When you are in Africa, you feel primordial, rocked in the cradle of the world.

I have only known her for two years. But if you took every memory, every moment, if you stretched them end to end-they'd reach forever.