“A man will never love you or treat you as well as a store. If a man doesn’t fit, you can’t exchange him seven days later for a gorgeous cashmere sweater. And a store always smells good. A store can awaken a lust for things you never even knew you needed. And when your fingers first grasp those shiny, new bags…”

“That moment. That instant when your fingers curl round the handles of a shiny, uncreased bag—and all the gorgeous new things inside it become yours. What’s it like? It’s like going hungry for days, then cramming your mouth full of warm buttered toast. It’s like waking up and realizing it’s the weekend. It’s like the better moments of sex. Everything else is blocked out of your mind. It’s pure, selfish pleasure.”

“I had fun. That’s what I believe in. Fun, flings, the sizzle. It starts as a shiver, when you see a man for the first time. And then he meets your eye and the shiver runs down your back and becomes a sizzle in your stomach and you think 'I want to dance with that man.' You dance, you have a cocktail or two, you flirt.”

“Never give up on something you really want. However impossible things seem, there's always a way.”

“The thing with giving up is you never know. You never know whether you could have done the job. And I'm sick of not knowing about my life.”

“You never know how things are going to turn out, however much you plan. But you already know that.”

“Jennifer Aniston and Her New Man'" I read the words aloud uncertainly. "What new man? Why would she need a new man?""Oh yes." Nicole follows my gaze, unconcerned. "You know she split up from Brad Pitt?""Jennifer and Brad split?" I stare up at her, aghast. "You can't be serious! They can't have done!""He went off with Angelina Jolie. They've got a daughter.""No!" I wail. "But Jen and Brad were so perfect together! They looked so good and they had that lovely wedding picture and everything....""They're divorced now." Nicole shrugs, like it's no big deal.I can't get over this. Jennifer and Brad divorced. The world is a different place.”