“There are times with your friends when you just have to put their whole mess out of your mind for a while.”

“The nice thing about having a friend who is crazier than you are is that she bolsters your belief in your own sanity.”

“Julia taught me what it takes to find your way in the world. It's not what I thought it was. I thought it wa all about-I don't know, confidence or will or luck. Those are all some good things to have, no question. But there's something else, somethng that these things grow out of. It's joy.”

“So the end may be a long time coming, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have a way of sneaking up on you.”

“Sometimes, if you want to be happy, you've got to run away to Bath and marry a punk rocker. Sometimes you've got to dye your hair cobalt blue, or wander remote islands in Sicily, or cook your way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year, for no very good reason.”

“These are the times when we aficionados of the gas stove know we are on the side of God.”

“You know that dejection that comes upon you when you realize that the person you're talking to might as well be from Jupiter, for all the chance you have of making them get what you're saying? I hate that.”