“There were always people who struggled their way to the top of the heap, no matter how much that heap looked like garbage when seen from the outside.”

“Death was silence, loss, guilt. And anger. But life led that way, anyway. From birth, it was a slow, long march to the grave. Who said that? She couldn’t remember now. But it was true. They were born dying. If they were very lucky, the dying was called aging. They reached toward if as if they were satellites in unstable orbits. And then when they got there, they were just dead. One moment in time separated the living from the ghosts.”

“It's always easier,' he offered at last, 'when you feel these things yourself; seeing them in other people reveals just how ugly they are.”

“The gods where like the weather; sometimes good, sometimes bad, and either way, always beyond her.”

“And I’ll stop with the lecture now. I don’t like people much—they irritate and annoy me. But I’mfascinated by them anyway.”

“Not all of our heartless plans work as we intend; nor do all of our good intentions. We are where we are, and we can rarely predict where we will go, no matter how firm our beliefs.”

“Lies were something you told other people to make things easier, somehow - hopefully, for them, but often more selfishly for yourself.”