“Perhaps I should sit up front with the driver and give you two enough space to beat the crap out of each other and settle this like grown adolescents. (Geary)”

“Adolescence is like having only enough light to see the step directly in front of you.”

“There was enough space out here that it was easy to lose sight of each other.”

“The little office, scarcely large enough to contain Dr. Irene’s desk at one end and the couch at the other, held a world of memories for Lily. Here, fifty minutes at a time, two or three times a week, she’d spilled out her hopes and fears, her childhood nightmares and adolescent insecurities – in a sense, she’d grown up in this room.”

“Now, children, I want you all to sit up just as straight and pretty as you can and give me all your attention for a minute or two. There - that is it. That is the way good little boys and girls should do. I see one little girl who is looking out of the window - I am afraid she thinks I am out there somewhere - perhaps up in one of the trees making a speech to the little birds. [Applausive titter.]”

“A novel rough draft is like bread dough; you need to beat the crap out of it for it to rise.”