“She knew the way of things. She knew ifyou weren't always stepping lightly as a bird the wholeworld came apart to crush you. Like a house of cards.Like a bottle against stones. Like a wrist pinned hardbeneath a hand with the hot breath smell of want andwine. . . .”

“If I could sum it up in 50 words, I wouldn't have needed to write a whole novel about it.”

“Kid's books should be just as good as any other books. No. They should be held to a *higher* standard than other literature for the same reason that we take extra care with children's food.”

“I am no poet. I do not love words for the sake of words. I love words for what they can accomplish. Similarly, I am no arithmetician. Numbers that speak only of numbers are of little interest to me.”

“Metal rusts, music lasts forever.”

“I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day.”

“Asleep she was a painting of a fire. Awake she was the fire itself”

“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”

“My alar is like the ocean in storm. (Devi)”

“It's the questions we can't answer that teach us the most. They teach us how to think. If you give a man an answer, all he gains is a little fact. But give him a question and he'll look for his own answers.”

“You've got a great chance in college to do all sorts of terrible irresponsible things, and you should totally do them. I mean, make huge mistakes. This is the time in your life if you screw up, it's okay because you can bounce back from it.”