“Love can change a person the way a parent can change a baby- awkwardly, and often with a great deal of mess.”

“...you know that a good, long session of weeping can often make you feel better, even if your circumstances have not changed one bit.”

“There is no way of knowing for sure whether or not you can trust someone, for the simple reason that circumstances change all of the time.”

“Even the best plans can change if there's an accident.”

“One can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways.”

“It is true, of course, that there is no way of knowing for sure whether or not you can trust someone, for the simple reason that circumstances change all of the time. You might know someone for several years, for instance, and trust him completely as your friend, but circumstances could change and he could become very hungry, and before you knew it you could be boiling in a soup pot, because there is no way of knowing for sure.”

“Unless you have been very, very lucky, you have undoubtedly experienced events in your life that have made you cry. So unless you have been very, very lucky, you know that a good, long session of weeping can often make you feel better, even if your circumstances have not changed one bit.”