“He has built a pedestal for her so tall that she is afraid to be lifted atop it, because to fall would mean certain death. But oh, she would rise far, far beyond fear and be held by arms so strong, and love so pure, that falling would not be an option.”

“Ian's sense of right and wrong overwhelms me. Not a single other person .... I knowpossesses such an unshakable sense of morality.Its more than unbelievable. It's frightening.To offer without strings something all men crave,and be rejected by him is incomprehensible.Think I'll have to kick Kaeleigh's ass.Does she have any idea what it means .... to beso treasured? He has built a pedestal for her so tallthat she is afraid to be lifted atop it, because to fallwould mean certain death. But oh, she would rise far, far beyond fear.”

“Bell lifted her hand to her chest. Her heart beat so quickly. She was floating out on a tide of agony, and soon she would be carried so far she'd never come back.”

“A girl who would fall in love so easily or want a man to love her so easily would probably get over it just as quickly, very little the worse for wear. On the contrary, a girl who would take love seriously would probably be a good while finding herself in love and would require something beyond mere friendly attentions from a man before she would think of him in that light.”

“The music touched her, haunted her, because it was so beautiful and because she had never waltzed to it in her true love's arms. And never would.”

“And so we come to the last crisis, that of integrity versus disgust and despair. Throughout the life-cycle the pieces have been assembled, structure built on structure around the ego's continuity. Now with death not too far away, can it all hold up or will it crumble? Are the links of love and meaning strong enough so that we are ourselves content to fall away.”