“I had taken two finger-bowls of champagne, and the scene had changed before my eyes into something significant, elemental, and profound.”

“I was enjoying myself now. I had taken two finger bowls of champagne and the scene had changed before my eyes into something significant, elemental and profound.”

“Had I known but yesterday what I know today, I’d have taken out your two grey eyes and put in eyes of clay. And had I known but yesterday you’d be no more my own, I’d have taken out your heart of flesh and put in one of stone.”

“I experienced a devastating loss of self...But in the same moment, I also recognized that a profound commitment had taken root inside me, and it was beautiful. I felt a duty that ran deeper than any I had known before. I had lost my old self, but in return it felt like I gained a life imbued with new meaning.”

“Had I known but yesterday what I know today,I’d have taken out your two gray eyesAnd put in eyes of clay;And had I known but yesterday you’d be no more my ownI’d have taken out your heart of fleshAnd put in one of stone”

“For I knew already that something had taken me from me, and had replaced it with a desperate longing for a time before; a time before fear; a time before shame. And now that knowledge had a voice that rose from the depths of my years and howled into the night sky like a wounded animal longing for home.”