“Lots of people go mad in January. Not as many as in May, of course. Nor June. But January is your third most common month for madness.”

“We all have a sense of level. It may not be based on class exactly anymore, but we still have a sense of what we're entitled to. People pick partners who are nearly their equal in looks. The pretty marry the pretty, the ugly the ugly. To the detriment of the breed.”

“He envied the bark, which had been, in the course of one lifetime, both forest and fire. One endured; one destroyed.”

“In the feudal fiefdom of school, rank was determined early. You could change your hair and clothes. You could, having learned your lesson, not write a paper on Julius Caesar entirely in iambic pentameter or you could not tell anyone if you did. You could switch to contact lenses, compensate for your braininess by not doing your homework. Every boy in school could grow twelve inches. The sun could go fucking nova. And you'd still be the same grotesque you'd always been.”

“You've done so many things and read so many books. Do you still believe in happy endings?" "Oh my Lord, yes." Bernadette's hands were pressed against each other like a book, like a prayer. "I guess I would. I've had about a hundred of them.”

“But a story never told is also a danger, particularly to the people in it.”

“Arriving late was a way of saying that your own time was more valuable than the time of the person who waited for you.”