“The worst events always have the thrust of accidents, as if they come out of nowhere. But that's just lack of perspective.”

“Are you always this wise, Ruth?" "Only when it comes to other people's lives.”

“There's so much to lose.""There always is," she said.I sighed and reached for another biscuit. "Are you always this wise, Ruth?""Only when it comes to other people's lives.”

“Most things in the world are not unexpected if one thinks carefully about them. Even something one would call unusual- if one things about it, it's really just a thing that was supposed to happen. Encountering unusual events often means you didn't think things through.”

“I don't know how to describe it, but after the blush of my own company wore off, I became so aware of Earnest's absence it was as if the lack of him had moved into the apartment with me.”

“I would gladly have climbed out of my skin and into his that night, because I believed that was what love meant.”

“How unbelievably naive we both were that night. We clung hard to each other, making vows we couldn't keep and should never have spoken aloud. That's how love is sometimes. I already loved him more than I'd ever loved anything or anyone. I knew he needed me absolutely, and I wanted him to go on needing me forever.”