“Life was life. It happened. You never knew what was going to come at you. Or how you could defend yourself.”

“My dear girl, you must cultivate a taste for the finer things. Civilized pleasures give meaning to life.”

“The past was always there, lived inside of you, and it helped to make you who you were. But it had to be placed in perspective. The past could not dominate the future.”

“You can be with a man for twenty years and never really know who he truly is. Then again, you can meet a man and know everything about him in an instant.”

“You know what they say, darling. When an older man seeks out younger women, he's virile. When an older woman seeks out younger men, she's desperate. Well, color me desperate, then. Because I want you, Harris Clayton. And I'm a woman who's very good at getting what she wants! Now come back to bed, darling, and let's forget all about everything except the way we feel.”

“Mary never made it to the board meeting. Cunning Elizabeth simply arranged for her cousin's tennis instructor to "delay" her for an hour or two. The man was evidently a superb athlete, though it was entirely Mary's fault that she fell asleep afterwards. Elizabeth took control of the company that very afternoon, by a vote of six to one, while a sated Mary slept. And the silly girl never knew what hit her.”

“What is done can never be undone.”