"

Here’s the truth: Who is spared love is spared grief.

"

If the human condition were the periodic table, maybe love would be hydrogen at No. 1. Death would be helium at No. 2. Power, I reckon, would be where...more

"

Every relationship has its own language. It takes a long time to evolve and read one another. Just as it's true for people, it's also true on a nation...more

"

I’d always worried but kissing’s not so tricky. Your lips know what to do, just like sea anenomes know what to do. Kissing spins you, like Flying Tea-...more

"

Perfume counters in department stores, Holly Deblin smells of, the middle of July, and cinnamon Tic Tacs.

"

Photos’re better than nothing, but things’re better than photos ’cause the things themselves were part of what was there.

"

Will I be some kid’s dad one day? Are any future people lurking deep inside mine?...Which girl’s carrying the other half of my kid, deep in those intr...more

"

Finished in a frenzy that reminded me of our last night in Cambridge. Watched my final sunrise. Enjoyed a last cigarette. Didn’t think the view could ...more

"

A half-read book is a half-finished love affair.

"

This, explained the angel, is hell. The people do not love each other. They only want to feed themselves.

"

This isn’t lust. Lust wants, does the obvious, and pads back into the forest. Love is greedier. Love wants round-the-clock care; protection; rings, vo...more

"

Anna would like you, he thinks, looking into her face. Anna would like you.

"

Orito banishes all thoughts of Jacob de Zoet, and recalls Jacob de Zoet.

"

We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love.

"

A single night is stuffed with minutes, but they leak out, one by one.