We don't suffer from a shortage of metaphors . . . But you have to be careful which metaphor you choose, because it matters.

I'd rather wonder than get answers I couldn't live with.

But what could I lose by continuing that had not already been lost?

I was thinking about the universe wanting to be noticed, and how I had to notice it as best I could. I felt that I owed a debt to the universe that only my attention could repay, and also that I owed a debt to everybody who didn’t get to be a person anymore and everyone who hadn’t gotten to be a person yet.

We don't suffer from a shortage of metaphors . . . But you have to be careful which metaphor you choose, because it matters.

Finally, I decided that the proper strategy was to stare back. Boys do not have a monopoly on the Staring Business, after all. So I looked him over and soon it was a staring contest. After a while the boy smiled, and then finally his blue eyes glanced away. When he looked back at me, I flicked my eyebrows up to say, I win. He shrugged

And even though he felt pitiful and ridiculous, he didn't want it to end, because he knew the absence of her would hurt more than any breakup ever could.