"A wife is the earth itself, changing hands, bearing scars."

"Her body moved with the frankness that comes from solitary habits. But solitude is only a human presumption. Every qu…"

"The march of human progress seemed mainly a matter of getting over that initial shock of being here."

"At some point in my life I'd honestly hoped love would rescue me from the cold, drafty castle I lived in. But at anot…"

"He was wounded. I suppose some sharp thing in me wanted to sting him, for making me need him now. After he'd once cut…"

"Libraries are the one American institution you shouldn't rip off."

"Every minute with a child takes seven minutes off your life."

"It kills you to see them grow up. But I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn't."

"We're animals. We're born like every other mammal and we live our whole lives around disguised animal thoughts."

"I have been afraid of putting air in a tire ever since I saw a tractor tire blow up and throw Newt Hardbine's father …"