“Afterward, Isabel drove me home and I shut myself in the study with Rilke, and I read and I wanted. And leaving you (there arent words to untangle it) Your life, fearful and immense and blossoming, So that, sometimes frustrated, and sometimes understanding Your life is sometimes a stone in you, and then, a starI was beginning to undertand poetry.”

“And leaving you (there aren't words to untangle it)Your life, fearful and immense and blossoming,so that, sometimes frustrated, and sometimes understanding,Your life is sometimes a stone in you, and then, a star.”

“They bit you. You should've changed, too, you know.""Sometimes I wish I had," I told him.He closed his eyes, miles away on the other side of the bed. "Sometimes I do, too.”

“This is Rilke. I wish I had written it for you.”

“It was a life I didn’t want to leave behind.It was a life I didn’t want to forget.”

“Sometimes, your eyes see something your brain doesn't. You pick up a nmewspaper and yourhead gives you a phrase that you didn't consciously read yet. You walk into a room and you realize something's out of place before you've bothered to properly look.I felt that happening now.""Sam's thoughts on page 304 of Linger.”

“Life's pain. You just have to get over as much of it as you can.-Isabel Culpeper”