“She tried to allow herself only one biting remark an hour, and she had already overstepped her allowance.”

“Since then her life had been peaceful and happy. She had allowed herself to be worshipped by that strangely captivating lover of hers, whose passionately willful temperament, tempered by that persistent, sunny gaiety, she had up to now only half understood.”

“Thus her whole identity hangs in the balance of her love life. She is allowed to love herself only if a man finds her worthy of love.”

“Pammy surges out of her seat, arm straining for the sky. She will apparently pee herself if she's not allowed to answer this question.”

“Even with everything broken and decided inside her she couldn't quite allow herself to disappear for good.”

“I want to weep, she thought. I want to be comforted. I’m so tired of being strong. I want to be foolish and frightened for once. Just for a small while, that’s all …a day … an hour ......One day, she promised herself as she lay abed, one day she would allow herself to be less than strong.But not today. It could not be today.”