“The baker has to have not only strength and fortitude, but patience too.”

“So I had nothing to distract me from my books and their other worlds that swallowed me whole, from Narnia to the Wisconsin woods, from a small town in Sweden to the red earth of Prince Edward Island. Nothing and no one interested me as much as my books.”

“I couldn't will my beloved Berlin streets across the world or make the people I loved appear when I needed them, but by summoning the flavors of Berlin and the foods of my loved ones, my kitchen became my sanctuary, the stove my anchor.Distance means nothing when your kitchen smells like home.”

“Inner peace is impossible without patience. Wisdom requires patience. Spiritual growth implies the mastery of patience. Patience allows the unfolding of destiny to proceed at its won unhurried pace.”

“Do not buy finery or jewels, because books are worth more than they are. Adorn your understanding with their precious ideas, because there is no luxury that dazzles like the luxury of science.”

“In a world of beings who don't exist, who self-destruct and erase themselves, perhaps one should make a valiant effort to at least draw oneself. Maybe that's where all the sex comes from- to feel real.”

“You’re just an appetite. And if you’d stop being greedy you’d die. You take everything and I’m empty.”