“We think about mortality so little, these days, except to flail hysterically at it with trendy forms of exercise and high-fiber cereals and nicotine patches.”

“We think of mortality so little these days...I thought of the stern Victorian determination to keep death in mind, the uncompromising tombstones.Remember, pilgrim, as you pass by,As you are now so once was I:As I am so will you be...”

“Her forehead was a maze of anxious little grooves, from a lifetime of wondering about whether everyone within range was OK.”

“... I stayed because running seemed too strange and too complicated. All I knew was how to fall back, find a patch of solid ground, and then dig my heels in and fight to start over.”

“I am not good at noticing when I'm happy, except in retrospect.”

“Time works so hard for us, if only we can let it.”

“I don't do that kind of negativity. If you put your energy into thinking about how much the fall would hurt, you're already halfway down.”