“He seemed to be made of sunshine and blood-red tissue and clear weather.”

“There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.”

“Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.”

“I wanted to paint a picture some day that people would stand before and forget that it was made of paint. I wanted it to creep into them like a bar of music and mushroom there like a soft bullet.”

“He studied cities as women study their reflections.”

“She hadbecome so thoroughly annealed into his life that she was like theair he breathed--necessary but scarcely noticed.”

“Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence”