“Then it was that there came into my head the first of the mad notions that contributed so much to saving our lives.”

“I said the first thing that came into my head unfortunately. "Save the drama for your mama " I told her just like an eleven-year-old.”

“My God, the corruptions of literature. It put all these notions into our heads.”

“The rain came down upon my head - Unshelter'd. And the wind rendered me mad and deaf and blind.”

“A notion of character, not so much discredited as simply forgotten, once held that people only came into themselves partway through their lives. They woke up, were they lucky enough to have consciousness, in the act of doing something they already knew how to do…”

“I just don’t understand how you can get so much comfort from a religion whose language does so much harm.”…I realized that what troubled me most was her use of the word “comfort,” so in my reply I addressed that first. I said that I didn’t think it was comfort I was seeking, or comfort that I’d found. Look, I said to her, as a rush of words came to me. As far as I’m concerned, this religion has saved my life, my husband’s life, and our marriage. So it’s not comfort that I’m talking about but salvation.”