Every moment is a moment of decision, and every moment turns us inexorably in the direction of the rest of our lives.

I can be hurt, she said, only by people I respect.

He gazed up at the blue sky and knew that heaven—at least in this life—was neither a time nor a place to be grasped and made into a possession. It came in fleeting moments and then went away again to leave one nostalgic and yearning and on the verge of tears. Very much on the verge of tears. And very frightened.

If you have always suspected your sister of an inclination to madness, it will be my pleasure to confirm your worst fears.

Suddenly, and for the first time, he was at the center of his own life, living it and loving it.

Love does not last forever, then?" "He asked me the same thing this morning," she said. "No, it does not - not love that has been betrayed. One realizes that one has loved a mirage, someone who never really existed. Not that love dies immediately or soon, even then. But it does die and cannot be revived.

Your sense of guilt will linger. It will always be part of you. but sharing it, allowing people to love you anyway, will do you the world of good. Secrets need an outlet if they are not to fester and become an unbearable burden.