“Maybe they were back to not talking. That's what she missed the most: talking. Serious, silly, bone-deep, flippant, all their words and thoughts like gifts to each other, the only gifts they, with their hobbled hearts, could give.”

“Friendship is provisional, you have to keep earning it, back and forth, give the gift that's only each other's to give”

“The most important stuff, what was closest to the bone, was just what you never talked about. There were no words for it...The trivial and silly is what you spend your day chatting about. You could ask your friends how they liked your hair, but you could never ask them what you really wanted to know: Is there hope for me, yes or no?”

“That be the jealousy talking," Gator said, in no way perturbed. "I can't help the way the women love me. I was born with the gift."The men hooted and made rude noises. "You were born with a gift of bullshitting." Sam pointed out, "but that's about it." He looked at Dahlia. "Pardon me, ma'am, but its the truth.""I rather thought it was," she agreed.”

“...the best gift we can give each other is the gift of time -- those precious, special, eternal moments.”

“I wondered why humans were even given the gift of speech at all. We no longer needed it; we’ve forgotten to talk about anything. We only waste it.”