We are all on the back of a giant anaconda. It is slithering and sliding, darting and diving, like anacondas do. That is the reality of the world.
-- Grandmother ("To Kill or to Thaw the Anaconda")

Importance: This quote represents a life philosophy presented by Grandmother. It incorporates the snake imagery that occurs throughout the novel, as well as a broader philosophy that life and its path are unpredictable. The future is unknown to all.

Don’t people who try to look younger miss part of their lives?
-- Kate to Yolo ("Change")

Importance: Despite Kate’s internalized fears about aging, she criticizes those who do not embrace their age. In this quote, she expresses a disdain for attempting to appear younger, which she avoids. For example, she does not color her gray hair.

For months he’d felt, every time he held her, a kind of humming coming from her body. A buzzing. Energy being amassed, stored, building to a bursting point. And yet...
-- Narrator ("He Wondered")