“The inevitable is no less a shock just because it is inevitable.”

“But something that never escapes me as I putter about the garden, physically and mentally: desire and curiosity inform the inevitable boundaries of the garden, and boundaries, especially when they are an outgrowth of something as profound as the garden with all its holy restrictions and admonitions, must be violated.”

“She had too much of everything, and so she longed to have less; less, she was sure, would bring her happiness. To me it was a laugh and a relief to observe the unhappiness that too much can bring; I had been so used to observing the reults of too little.”

“Looking at the horizon again, I saw a lone figure coming toward me, but I wasn't frightened because I was sure it was my mother. As I got closer to the figure, I could see that it wasn't my mother, but still I wasn't frightened because I could see that it was a woman.”

“It was hollow, my triumph, I could feel that, but I held on to it just the same.”

“I was afraid of the dead, as was everyone I knew. We were afraid of the dead because we never could tell when they might show up again.”

“Of course his life could be found in the pages of a book; I had just begun to notice that the lives of men always are.”