“The flowers were beaten down, their bent-over heads bejeweled with diamond droplets like earring on sad, rich widows”

“And the needles of the pine trees, freshly washed to a deep, rich green, shimmered with droplets that blinked like clear crystals.”

“I’d still be nice to you if you were ugly.”“Okay.”A wicked grin slipped over his full lips. He bent his head down and whispered, “I just wouldn’t offer you any cookies.”

“There is no point treating a depressed person as though she were just feeling sad, saying, 'There now, hang on, you'll get over it.' Sadness is more or less like a head cold- with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.”

“Daffy bent down suddenly, and picked a small startled white flower. "Anemone," he said, handing it over; he made her repeat the word until she had it right. "Find me a silk to match that.”

“Truth, beaten down, may well rise again. But there's a reason it gets beaten down. Usually we don't like it very much.”