“When two people are in love, it’s supposed to work. It has to work. No matter how difficult the circumstances are.”

“ and some of the people i knew were contemplating our circumstances. our circumstances being poorly paid jobs if we worked in the arts, two hours of sleep if we worked in money, and a newfound sense of intellectual inferiority if we worked in publishing.”

“Marriage is not easy, I thought to myself. It’s not supposed to be easy. It’s two different people, from two different backgrounds, trying to build a life together for better or worse. It’s something you have to work at every single day. There are going to be hard times and those are the times you are supposed to fight like hell.”

“Love is difficult. For one human being to love another human being, that's the most difficult test that has been entrusted to us. The work for which all other work is merely preparation.”

“Most kids grow sullen and angry when they’re working through issues, but Thanet mustered up another kind of bull-headed strength. The kind that sees beyond circumstances to what really matters. How could anyone hurt a soul that lovely?”

“How could two people who were so in love not end up happily ever after? It had to work. Didn’t it?”