“In the last couple of weeks I have seen the ads for the Wonder Bra.Is that really a problem in this country? Men not paying enough attention to women’s breasts?”

“I'm a laugh tart. I make no secret of that fact.”

“Hot, short, thorough," I said. I hesitated before adding, "Please." It never pays to insult computers that are smart enough to form sentences. Not when they're in control of the locks, and especially when they have the capacity to boil you in bleach."Absolutely," said the shower.”

“In order to see, I have to be willing to be seen.”

“Some men there were who know how to look at a lady, and make her feel she'd been seen. Or perhaps there was no question of knowing how. Some men just looked at ladies that way. [...] Tell me what absorbs you so, such a man might say. I wonder at your thoughts. He might even guess. It's to do with cards, isn't it?”

“Writer's block is just a symptom of feeling like you have nothing to say, combined with the rather weird idea that you should feel the need to say something. Why? If you have something to say, then say it. If not, enjoy the silence while it lasts. The noise will return soon enough.”

“Of course, they hadn’t really been happier at all. But they ‘d been days, and they’d had Sarah in them, and that was near enough.”