“Being a mother isn't easy.”

“We mothers have to be part sleuth, I realized.”

“...we mothers lose a lot of sleep, I realized.”

“The only thing worse than feeling that you are going to die is the realization that you probably won't.”

“...anyone who chooses to make fishing his occupation solely for the money is in the wrong business. If no thrill is experienced in catching fish, no satisfaction in going to sea and returning to shore, no pride in exclaiming "I am a fisherman," then a life on the water will be unfulfilling, perhaps even unbearable. Among the unhappy with whom I am acquainted, perhaps the most miserable people are those who fish out of necessity rather than out of a love of the sea and the seafaring life. I have always maintained that when I no longer feel a thrill, satisfaction, and pride from fishing, I will start a new career. (pp. 248-249)”

“[My mother] believed we could each change the world, but what convinced me this was possible was music.”

“Being a woman seemed to mean listening to the music boys liked and neither dancing nor singing along.”