Sometimes books come into your life for a reason, Della. It's really strange.
-- Cathy (Complainers paragraph 1)

Importance: Cathy wants to convey the importance of the book, Two Old Women, as one that appeared mysteriously. The beginning of their friendship was also a significant happenstance. Eventually, the book comes to represent for Della the history she shares with Cathy in their struggle for independence.

Dear Mom and Dad, The earth itself is all the evidence we need. Its rhythms, its perpetual regeneration, the rising and falling of the moon, the tide flowing in the lands and out again to the sea, all this is a lesson for that very slow learner, the human race. The earth keeps repeating the drill, over and over, until we get it right.
-- Mitchell (Air Mail paragraph 2)

Importance: Mitchell realizes that all the knowledge he would need is found all around him and in the earth itself, not in materials wealth. This revelation comes to...