“She avoids deep thought like an empty restaurant, not out of stupidity, but a canny resolve to be happy.”
“She was resolved to take the risk of being happy.”
“She couldn't avoid being serious about things she cared for, and happiness made her grave at the thought of all the things which might destroy it.”
“Yes, she's bleeding to death upstairs, but I thought I'd avoid telling you right away, because I like to draw the suspense out.”
“It was like she was so empty there wasn't even a feeling or thought in her.”
“She thought of the library, so shining white and new; the rows and rows of unread books; the bliss of unhurried sojourns there and of going out to a restaurant, alone, to eat.”