"But some people can't tell where it hurts. They can't calm down. They can't ever stop howling." (Chapter 1, page 2)

"…sometimes I see instead the young girl's face I once spent so much time rearranging and deploring, drowned and floating just beneath my present face, which seems - especially in the afternoons, with the light on a slant - so loose and transparent I could peel it off like a stocking." (Chapter 3, page 43)

"Myra will corner the job, no doubt; she thinks she has inherited me from Reenie." (Chapter 3, page 57)

"What virtue was once attached to this notion - of going beyond your strength, of not sparing yourself, of ruining your health!" (Chapter 3, page 73)

"You have a lot of friends, she says. Not a lot, he says. You don't need many if there's no rotten apples." (Chapter 4, page 109)

"I only wished the happy ending would hurry up, because -...