What was the difference between love and the agony of waiting? Like love, the agony of waiting began in the muscles and somewhere around the upper belly but soon spread out to the chest, the thighs, and the forehead, to invade the entire body with numbing force.

When another writer in another house is not free, no writer is free.

My religion is complicated. Literature is my true religion. After all, I come from a completely non-religious family.

And before long , the msuic , the views rushing past the window , my fathers voice and the narrow cobblestone streets all merged into one , and it seemed to me that while we would never find answers to these fundamental questions , it was good for us to ask them anyway . pg. 284

For if a lover's face survives emblazoned on your heart, the world is still your home.

The beauty and mystery of this world only emerges through affection, attention, interest and compassion . . . open your eyes wide and actually see this world by attending to its colors, details and irony.

After all, a woman who doesn't love cats is never going to be make a man happy.