"He had not only known that I would be coming to see him, I realized, but had anticipated the reason for my visit. And in typical southern fashion, he'd given me the answer to my problem, without my ever having to ask him directly."

"...she would fall in love with me again, just like she had a long time ago. And that's the most wonderful feeling in the world. How many people are ever given that chance? To have someone you love fall in love with you over and over?"

"...when two people live together, the stress flows both ways. This, I come to believe, is both the blessing and the curse of marriage. It's a blessing because there's an outlet for the everyday strains of life; it's a curse because the outlet is someone you care deeply about."

"...feeling her helplessness. There was nothing worse. Most people lived under the illusion that they were in control of their lives, but that wasn't completely true. Yeah, you could decide what to have for breakfast and what to wear and all those little things, but as soon as you stepped out into the world, you were pretty much at the mercy of everyone else around you, and all you could do was hope that if they were having a bad day, they wouldn't decide to take it out on you."

"She'd always believed that people come in two varieties: those who look out the windshield and those who stare in the rearview mirror. She'd always been the windshield type: Gotta focus on the future, not the past, because that's the only part that's still up for grabs."

"My mom used to tell me that whatever you do, marry someone who loves you more than you love him."

"You know me better than anyone, and you're my best friend. I don't think there's anything you could say to me that would lead me to believe that you're doing it just to hurt me. If there's one thing I've come to know about you, it's that you're not even capable of something like that. Why do you think I like spending time with you so much? Because you're a good guy. A nice guy."

"Nowadays, she thought, it was the little things in life that mattered. If the highlights in her past set the tone, it was the day-by-day events that now defined who she was."

"And don't worry. From wherever I am, I'll watch out for you. I'll be your guardian angel, sweetheart. You can count on me to keep you safe."

"When I sleep, I dream of you, and when I wake, I long to hold you in my arms. If anything, our time apart has only made me more certain that I want to spend my nights by your side, and my days with your heart."

"...The greater the love, the greater the tragedy when it's over. Those two elements always go together. … The best we can hope for in life is that it doesn't happen for a long, long time."

"No," his father replied, "you ran for you. I just hope you're running toward something, not away from something."

"If it's over--if it's really over--then don't let it screw up the rest of your life."

"I don't want to be a grown-up. … Because grown-ups always say that things are complicated."

"There are ghosts and there is love, And both are present here, To those who listen, this tale will tell The truth of love and if it's near."

"Where does a story truly start? In life, there are seldom clear-cut beginnings, those moments when we can, in looking back, say that everything started. Yet these are moments when fate intersects with our daily lives, setting in motion a sequence of events whose outcome we could never have foreseen"

"Loving someone and having them love you back is the most precious thing in the world. It's what made it possible for me to go on..."

"Why? Do you want to rescue me, too, Taylor? … That's what you're trying to do, isn't it? … I appreciate what you're trying to do, but it's not what I need right now. I need to handle this my own way."

"Mitch...was the kind of man who added something to everything he touched and everyone he came in contact with. I was envious of his view on life. He saw it all as a big game, where the only way to win was to be good to other people, to be able to look at yourself in the mirror and like what you see."

"Her mother had once told her that there were men who kept secrets bottled up inside and that it spelled trouble for the women who loved them."

"Even now, not a day goes by when I don't wish I could turn back the clock and change what happened."

"Youth offers the promise of happiness, but life offers the realities of grief."

"I can no more give Jamie away than I can give away my heart. But what I can do is let another share in the joy that she has always given me."

"It was...the most difficult walk anyone ever had to make. In every way, a walk to remember."

"Oh, Garrett, who do you think it was that brought the bottle to her?"

"Deanna's voice softened. "Theresa, I know there's a part of you that believes you can change someone, but the reality is that you can't. You can change yourself, and Garrett can change himself, but you can't do it for him." "I know that--" "But you don't," Deanna said, gently cutting her off. "Or if you do, you don't want to see it that way. Your vision, as they say, has become clouded.""

"My Dearest Catherine, I miss you, my darling, as I always do, but today is especially hard because the ocean has been singing to me, and the song is that of our life together."

"I lead a simple life now, I am foolish, an old man in love, a dreamer who dreams of nothing but reading to Allie and holding her whenever I can. I am a sinner with many faults and a man who believes in magic, but I am too old to change and too old to care."

"Follow your heart,"

"I can't make this decision for you, Allie, this one's all yours. I want you to know, though, that I love you. And I always will. I know that doesn't help, but it's all I can do."

"I know we've had our differences, Allie, and that we haven't seen eye to eye on everything. I'm not perfect, but I did the best I could with raising you. I'm your mother and I always will be. That means I'll always love you." Allie was silent for a moment, then: "What should I do?" "I don't know, Allie. That's up to you. But I would think about it. Think about what you really want."

"I am nothing special; of this I am sure. I am a common man with common thoughts, and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but I've loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough."

"The Indian diaspora is a wonderful place to write from and I am lucky to be part of it."

"New York is a lovely city. It is an easy city to go back to and an easy city to leave. Every time I go there I immediately make travel plans."

"I do think that the modern India does belong to writers who are living in India."

"I feel as comfortable anywhere as I feel uncomfortable anywhere"

"I don't think you can write according to a set of rules and laws; every writer is so different."

"In India, if you are from the elite, dogs are extremely important. The breed of the dog indicates your wealth, that you are westernized. The cook, another human being, is on a much lower level than your dog. You see this all the time."

"“I can’t change what I am ovenight.” “Nor can I. And yet, one can’t stop changing, either.”"

"If every planet in the Patriarchy refused to be ruled, we all would be free."

"She watched the indigo sky, and the stars coming out tranquil as ever, as if this were any ordinary evening. Only humans knew what an evil time this was."

"You are as responsible for what you let happen as for the actions you share."

"Death hastens those who hasten death."

"There was no time for bitterness now: eat bitterness, and bitterness eats you."

"Death can be hastened but never shared."

"Usha had said that males were not all that different, just bigger outside to make up for what they lacked within."

"“Magic is nonsense.” “Magic is anything you don’t understand.”"

"Of all the well-meant emotions pity is the cruelest to share."

"A life postponed too long might never be lived."