As long as she was falling in love with me, I might as well start making her promises I didn't intend to keep.

There's nothing more embarrassing than to have earned the disfavor of a perceptive animal.

When I'm writing solitude feels very good. But when I'm not writing it feels lonely... Having a big family solves that problem.

[My dad] didn't do much apart from the traditional winning of bread. He didn't take me to get my hair cut or my teeth cleaned; he didn't make the appointments. He didn't shop for my clothes. He didn't make my breakfast, lunch, or dinner. My mom did all of those things, and nobody ever told her when she did them that it made her a good mother.

It was the kind of promise a father makes easily and sincerely, knowing at the same time that it will be impossible to keep. The truth of some promises is not as important as whether or not you can believe in them, with all your heart. A game of baseball can't really make a summer day last forever. A home run can't really heal all the broken places in our world, or in a single human heart. And there was no way that Mr. Feld could keep his promise never to leave Ethan again. All parents leave their children one day.

As long as she was falling in love with me, I might as well start making her promises I didn't intend to keep.

It's always been hard for me to tell the difference between denial and what used to be known as hope.