“Discomfort begets discomfort in others.”

“You were always uncomfortable with the rhetoric of emotion, which is quite a different matter from discomfort with emotion itself.”

“We'd been assured it wouldn't be painful, though she might experience 'discomfort,' a term beloved of the medical profession that seems to be a synonym for agony that isn't yours.”

“The existence of other people is essentially awkward.”

“I had created my own Other Woman who happened to be a boy. I'd seen this in-house cuckolding in other families, and it's odd that I'd failed to spot it in ours.”

“I have never in all my life considered you other people.”

“And one of our consuming diversions as we age is to recite, not only to others but to ourselves, our own story.”