We don't always have a choice how we get to know one another. Sometimes, people fall into our lives cleanly--as if out of the sky, or as if there were a direct flight from Heaven to Earth--the same sudden way we lose people, who once seemed they would always be part of our lives

Whereas she wished more of the population were better educated, she also believed that education was largely wasted on the majority of the people she met.

Don't forget this, too: Rumors aren't interested in the unsensational story; rumors don't care what's true.

Just because you're sober, don't think you're a good driver, Cookie.

It is your responsibility to find fault with me, it is mine to hear you out. But don't expect me to change.

The main character and the most important character are not always the same person - you have to know the difference.

but writers, Garp knew, were just observers - good and ruthless imitators of human behavior.