Life

It was a war, and in a war there are always casualties. Never winners, but always plenty of casualties.

We remained talking, fighting gently or viciously for what seemed like hours, but it was only minutes or perhaps a second, because it was only a dream.

There are pockets of time, she thinks, where every sense rings like a bell, where the world brims with fleeting grace.

Life is full of screwups. You're supposed to fail sometimes. It's a required part of the human existance.

Are you all right?''How do I look?''Um… You have raven hair, brown eyes and bronzed skin if you didn’t know, and you’re… human.

The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it, useful only accidentally, only secondarily, in the way that any compulsion tries to justify itself. I suppose that it begins or does not begin in the cradle.

I envied these women I saw before me, their beauty still intact. Life has its revenge of life. Untimely death is the secret of eternal youth.

Your calling can never fail you.

I don’t much care for all this talk of God washing away all my dirt. I like a bit of grit around the edges. It gives me character and does a passable job of faking depth, from a distance.

I do remember a teacher telling me when I was about ten that I was really good at acting. I was so proud, even though I am sure he said that to all of us in the class.

She dove, plunging fully beneath the surface and came up again in tears. Rivulets ran from her face, and the sun ignited them each, transforming them, even amid her sorrow, into gilded runnels set with a diamond shine.

I'm going to bed, where I may die.

I think we all have a dream of what it would be like not to work and grow heirloom tomatoes, and I do have that dream. It would be lovely. I do love gardening and all of that, but I do love my work.

THE LUXE IS . . .Pretty girls in pretty dresses, partying until dawn.Irresistible boys with mischievous smiles and dangerous intentions.White lies, dark secrets, and scandalous hookups.This is Manhattan in 1899.

How can you hide from what never goes away?

My heart's made of goldMy soul is pure steelLoved ones shall riseEnemies will kneelI soothe with water, attack with fireFor I am the master of my own empire.

It's really easy to do sad you just put on some sad music and write dramatically - everybody can do that.

It's not his bodythat changesright away.It's somethinginside. He sayshe wants tobe a littleweaker. I don'tunderstand.I say 'thinner?'and he says'no, I wantto be strongerin a differentway.' notbecause of me,but for me.

Her friends used to tell her it wasn't rape if the man was your husband. She didn't say anything, but inside she seethed; she wanted to take a knife to their faces.

Sometimes, we are simply trapped in the cage of our own emotions, unable to break those bars. It hurts!