Most people muddled through events and only in retrospect realized their significance.

In the end, it is my belief, words are the only things that can construct a world that makes sense.

Fairy tales opened up a door into my imagination - they don't conform to the reality that's around you as a child. I started reading when I was three and read everything, but I wanted to be an actress.

I was on the verge of something numinous and profound and in one more second the universe was going to crack open and arcana would rain down on my head like grace and all the cosmic mysteries were going to be revealed.

Sometimes I would like to cry. I close my eyes. Why weren't we designed so that we can close our ears as well? (Perhaps because we would never open them.) Is there some way that I could accelerate my evolution and develop earlids?

She was a terrible mother, there was no doubt about it, but she didn't even have the strength to feel guilty.

I feel as if I’m waiting for something dreadful to happen, and then I realize it already has.