“I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it.”

“Dogs know we need to give affection as much as they need to receive it. They were the first therapists; they've been in practice for thousands of years.”

“But, someone, please give me—who is born again but still so much in need of being born anew—give me the details of how to live in the waiting cocoon before the forever begins?”

“Second-hand gloves will become lovely again, their memories are what give them the need for other hands. And the desolation of lovers is the same: that enormous emptiness carved out of such tiny beings as we are asks to be filled; the need for the new love is faithfulness to the old.”

“I need just be a bayonet, a bayonet named Diving Punishment. I wish I'd been born a storm. Or a menace. Or a single grenade. No heart, no tears, just as a terrible gale'd have been good. If [by doing this] I become that, then so be it.”

“Before he turned away, I asked, 'What do you need?''I need you. I need to give you a proper kiss. I need you to be my mate.”