“Call it a good marriage -For no one ever questionedHer warmth, his masculinity,Their interlocking views;Except one stray graphologistWho frowned in speculationAt her h's and her s's,His p's and w's.Though few would still subscribeTo the monogamic axiomThat strife below the hip-bonesNeed not estrange the heart,Call it a good marriage:More drew those two together,Despite a lack of children,Than pulled them apart.Call it a good marriage:They never fought in public,They acted circumspectlyAnd faced the world with pride;Thus the hazards of their love-bedWere none of our damned business -Till as jurymen we sat onTwo deaths by suicide.”

“We had loved them, and that they hadn't heard us calling, still do not hear us... calling them out of those rooms where they went to be alone for all time, alone in suicide, which is deeper than death, and where we will never find the pieces to put them back together.”

“Every human being must be viewed according to what it is good for. For not one of us, no, not one, is perfect. And were we to love none who had imperfection, this world would be a desert for our love.”

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

“Indeed, there was a frankness in his face, an honesty, and an undisguised show of his pride in her, and his love for her, which were, to me, the best of good looks.”

“(On Dickens) No other writer is quite as good at making marriage vows about remaining together "till death us do part" sound more like a suicide pact.”