“Ee come a time when eby tub haffa res pon e won bottom, said Hepzibah, then translated: At some point in life, you have to stand on your own two feet.”

“Probably one or two moments in your whole life you will hear a dark whispering spirit, a voice coming from the center of things. It will have blades for lips and will not stop until it speaks the one secret thing at the heart of it all. Kneeling on the floor, unable to stop shuddering, I heard it plainly. It said, You are unlovable...”

“You don't have to place your hand on Mary's heart to get strength and consolation and rescue, and all the other things we need to get through life. You can place it right here on your own heart. Your own heart.”

“Did you know there are thirty-two names for love in one of the Eskimo languages?" August said. "And we just have this one. We are so limited, you have to use the same word.”

“Some things were not possible in this world. Children did not have two parents who refused to love them. One, maybe, but for pity's sake, not two.”

“There is a fullness of time for things. You have to know when to prod and when to be quiet. When to let things take their course.”

“There's a fullness of time for things, Lily. You have to know when to prod and when to be quiet, when to let things take their course.”