“I didn't know all that was inside of him, either. I thought I did, but people run deep and complicated like rivers, hold their shape and are carved upon like stone.”

“I wondered what my father had looked like that day, how he had felt, marrying the lively and beautiful girl who was my mother. I wondered what his life was like now. Did he ever think of us? I wanted to hate him, but I couldn't; I didn't know him well enough. Instead, I wondered about him occasionally, with a confused kind of longing. There was a place inside me carved out for him; I didn't want it to be there, but it was. Once, at the hardware store, Brooks had shown me how to use a drill. I'd made a tiny hole that went deep. The place for my father was like that.”

“Why did you decide to be an architect?""I didn't know it then. But it's because I've never believed in God.""Come on, talk sense.""Because I love this earth. That's all I love. I don't like the shape of things on this earth. I want to change them.""For whom?""For myself.""How old are you?""Twenty-two.""Where did you hear all that?""I didn't.""Men don't talk like that at twenty-two. You're abnormal.""Probably.""I didn't mean it as a compliment.""I didn't either.”

“I think sometimes that people are like onions. On the outside smooth and whole and simple but inside ring upon ring, complex and deep.”

“Even water carves monuments of stone, so do our thoughts shape our character.”

“What did I feel? Appalled. Astonished. Bewildered. I thought I was doing so well. I thought I was charming the hell out of him. I thought I had him eating out of my hand. Well: I thought I was getting away with it. I might have known. There is always a catch. But suddenly I felt very very young, like a child. Suddenly I wanted to run to - God knows whom, maybe God Himself - why is there never a face I can put to whom I want to run? - and cry, 'But I thought he liked me. All I want is to be liked.' And then, thank heaven, cold rage and fury.”