“Like some dogs: kick them once and they never trust you again, no matter how nice you are to them.”

“You're good for the ones you love. You WANT to be good for the ones you love. Because you know that your time with them will end up being too short, no matter how long it is.”

“She nods. You're good for the ones you love. You want to be good for the ones you love, because you know that your time with them will end up being too short, no matter how long it is.”

“Men! She could not understand why so many women feared them. Hadn't the gods made them with the most vulnerable part of their guts hanging right out of their bodies, like a misplaced bit of bowel? Kick them there and they curled up like snails. Caress them there and their brains melted.”

“My heart's with you, Bill, no matter how it turns out. My heart is with all of them, and I think that, even if we forget each other, we'll remember in our dreams.”

“I never think of stories as made things; I think of them as found things. As if you pull them out of the ground, and you just pick them up.”

“Try any goddam thing you like, no matter how boringly normal or outrageous. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, toss it. Toss it even if you love it.”