If we measured life in the things that almost happened, we wouldn't get anywhere.

You are who you are, whether you like it or not, so why not like it?

It had always fascinated him that she'd consumed so many words, that her head was full of stories, told a thousand different ways.

You're dying with the way things are," Della Lee said harshly, causing Josey to lower the handful of popcorn she was about to put in her mouth. "You're going to lose yourself in this, Josey. It's going to happen if you don't change. I know. I lost myself trying to find happiness in things that didn't love me back.

He'd always been fascinated by her, drawn to her the way curious people are always drawn to things they don't understand.

To Fred, those years seemed to pass like quickly skimming a book and then finding the ending wasn't what he expected. He wished he'd paid more attention to the story.

Her life was monotonous, but it kept her out of trouble. . . . This, her father would say, was called being an adult.