“Listen twice as much as you talk, since you were born with two ears and one mouth.”

“Listen, or your tongue will make you deaf.”

“It's true that the two halves were no longer hinged. They weren't clinging to each other, but each was a cream-colored wing with a rosy flush inside. I held one half in each hand. If I took this shell across the room or across the universe, and the other one stayed here, they'd still be two halves of a whole, and anyone would know they belonged together.”

“And there was no way to unsay words you'd blurted out, no matter how sorry you were.”

“The best words I ever heard about making your own reputation," Gram said, looking over her shoulder into the back seat, "is that you come into the world crying while everyone is smiling at the miracle of you, and you should live your life so when you leave it, you're smiling, but everyone else is crying because the miracle of you is gone.”

“Gwen?" "Yes.""You know why we have to be together, don't you?""...""I'm your selkie.”

“We were meant to be together.”