“Do your own thing on your own terms and get what you came here for”

“A dog comes to you and lives with you in your own house, but you do not therefore own her, as you do not own the rain, or the trees, or the laws which pertain to them”

“there was a new voicewhich you slowlyrecognized as your own,that kept you companyas you strode deeper and deeperinto the world,determined to dothe only thing you could do --determined to savethe only life you could save.”

“Of course. That's what people do in a disordered world, a world of freedom and choice: they leave when they want. They disappear, they come back, they leave again. And you are left to pick up the pieces on your own.”

“A good friend keeps your secrets for you. A best friend helps you keep your own secrets.”

“And there you are on the shore,fitful and thoughtful, trying to attach them to an idea — some news of your own life. But the liliesare slippery and wild—they are devoid of meaning, they are simply doing, from the deepestspurs of their being, what they are impelled to do every summer. And so, dear sorrow, are you.”

“It affects your mind so that you cannot think clearly, or make rational decisions about your own well-being.”