“If a hug represented how much I loved you, I would hold you in my arms forever.”

“From that time forth, whenever a critical decision had to be made concerning the future, the Oneida considered "how much was enough and how much was too much." Someone would rise and pose the question: "Tell me now my brothers! Tell me now my sisters! Who speaks for Wolf?"Like other Native Americans, the Oneida were soon overwhelmed by an invading culture that had scant understanding of such a sense of nuance toward the earth, plants, and animals, and in particular, wolves.Centuries would pass before anyone would venture again to speak for Wolf.”

“Never much of a fantasy fan, I knew one thing for certain: Odell Greenry loved Precious every bit as much as Gollum loved his “precious.” And while both objects of obsession could be possessed neither could be mastered.”

“Just being near the water makes me ache for it, makes my skin tingle with the desire to run until I am chest-deep and the water wraps around my skin like a satin ribbon, making the worries, the aches, the stress unwind. Sometimes, I wonder if this is how a recovering alcoholic would feel if someone put a beer in her hand. If her body would wage war against her mind as mine does.”

“You were twisting your wet hair up into a ponytail, and then you saw us, and you smiled....""Then why didn't you-""Because you were smiling for him. And I would have had to have been an idiot to get in between that.”

“I would rather be alone with dignity than in a relationship that requires me to sacrifice my self respect.”

“No matter how attractive a person's potential may be, you have to date their reality.”