“People didn't change. they liked what they liked even if they didn't understand why.”

“She didn't like to be alone. Even more, she didn't like being with people.”

“Maybe this was all down to some supernatural effect, such as grace, that flowed through people's lives even if they didn't understand why.”

“Carmen didn't like change, and she certainly didn't like endings.”

“People said things they didn't mean all the time. Everybody else in the world seemed able to factor it in. But not Lena. Why did she believe the things people said? Why did she cling to them so literally? Why did she think she knew people when she clearly didn't? Why did she imagine that the world didn't change, when it did? Maybe she didn't change. She believed what people said and she stayed the same." (Lena, 211)”

“But if it couldn't be love and it didn't feel like lust, what was it? Like? Did he like her? Of course, he did, but that word didn't capture his feelings, either. It was a little too... vague and soft around the edges. People liked ice cream. People liked to watch television. It meant nothing, and it didn't come close to explaining why, for the first time, he felt the urge to tell someone the truth...”