“Mary wasn't brilliant.She was a good woman who let her emotions guide her politics. She just couldn't help being for anybody who was agin something.”

“Francie said nothing more. Katie knew that she was letting them down. But she couldn't help it, she just couldn't help it. Yes, she should go with them to lend the comfort and authority of her presence but she knew she couldn't stand the ordeal. Yet, they had to be vaccinated. Her being with them or somewhere else couldn't take that fact away. So why shouldn't one of the three be spared? Besides, she said to her conscience, it's a hard and bitter world. They've got to live in it. Let them get hardened young to take care of themselves.”

“There wasn't a woman alive who could resist a man who paid attention to her, who made her feel like she was the only other person in his world.”

“She couldn't "heal" him. No woman could. Events that far in the past just couldn't be undone. But perhaps he didn't need a cure, but . . . a lens. Someone who accepted him for the imperfect person he was, and then helped him to see the world clear. Like spectacles did for her.”

“Being with Mary was different because...he wasn't the only one who wanted to make love to her.The beast wanted her, too. The beast wanted out so it could take her.”

“A man always imagines a woman to be ready for anybody who asks her.”