“As Tim followed me up the narrow stairwell, he playfully pinched my butt with every step, a pleasant (and painful--in a black-and-blue sort of way) reminder that all I had yearned for as a student twenty-five years before had come true, even if I hadn't taken the time to notice it until now: I was happy. At twenty years old, had I articulated what I thought I needed in life, I would have probably said a big house, a successful husband, and a great career. Yet all I really needed for true happiness was the homeless, unemployed bus driver right behind me, pinching my butt every step of the way.”

“...It also taught me that while cruelty can be fun for a few moments, compassion has a much longer shelf life.”

“I saw my ex-husband in the street. I was sitting on the steps of the new library.Hello, my life, I said. We had once been married for twenty-seven years, so I felt justified.He said, What? What life? No life of mine.”

“...for most of the ride through British Columbia we were treated to stunning scenery ranging from majestic peaks shrouded in mist to more barren vistas reminiscent of the Old West ... to churning rivers fed by waterfalls twisting down mountains like the woven tassels on the white summer Chanel bag I'd left back home. Do waterfalls ever feel unfashionable after Labor Day”

“In WASP families, if you don't get along with someone, you have as little to do with them as possible. In Jewish families, you move next door, to make them as miserable as possible.”

“I'll be right behind you"behind her? Thirty-two steps with him looking at her butt?"No, you wont.""Look, it's late, i'm tired, can we just-""it'll be a cold day in hell when you follow me up those steps. You want to go up, you go first.""Why?" he said mystified"you're not looking at my rear end all the way up that hill."Cal sighed and took the first step. "wait a minute. Now you'll be looking at my butt all the way up the steps.""yes but you probably have a great butt," Min said. "it's an entirely different dynamic.”

“I thought how strange it had never occurred to me before that I was only purely happy until I was nine years old.”