Looking at the shape of the world, I see how we're in a time where women are the subject of hatred, fear, and we have to fight that all the time. I feel that there are fights we take for granted. When I look at the world, I see that women are subject to cruelty. And that's why the global gag rule means so much to me, that the United States wouldn't stand up for the rights and health of women.

It is easy to take away the world that we think is so permanent and reliable.

The greatest wisdom doesn't know itself. The richest plan is not to have one.

People forget the good, because the bad has more punch.

The only time I see the truth is when I cross my eyes.

...Grandpa's mind had left us, gone wild and wary. When I walked with him I could feel how strange it was. His thoughts swam between us, hidden under rocks, disappearing in weeds, and I was fishing for them, dangling my own words like baits and lures.

There are people who are always, I think, going to remain people of the book, to use another author's title, but people of the book, who really must be around.