“Now Momma's done away with the old black kettle she used to cook in when I was just little
And the door ain't sprung on her electric range
That little old farm and home we had it ain't there no more and that's too bad
Folks are doing away with the simple things…”

“Cause I was born lonely down by the riverside
Learned to spin fortune wheels, and throw dice
And I was just thirteen when I had to leave home
Knew I couldn't stick around, I had to roam
Ain't good looking, but you know I ain't shy
Ain't afraid to look it girl, hear me out
So if you need some lovin, and you need it right away
Take a little time out, and maybe I'll stay.”

“The sails are unfurled
And the anchor's away going home…
She heels to the breeze as she gathers her way,
And we're bound to the old country.
Then away, love, away, going home!
We're homeward bound this very day,
And we're bound to the old country…”

“It ain't so much the things we don't know that get us into trouble, it's the things we do know that just ain't so.”

“It is not so bad a thing to grow old; it is only getting a little nearer home; a little nearer to immortal youth.”

“She was too tired to feel anything more, she wanted a book to do to her what books did: take away the world, slide it aside for a little bit, and let her please, please just be somewhere and somebody else”

“I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more.”

“There can be help. There's always God," said Amy. "I'm ashamed. I'd forgotten about Him.” She was quiet for a time. When she lifted her head she looked older and resolute. “Don’t blame yourself too much, Cousin Caroline,” she said. “That’s as bad as taking no blame at all. I’m not going to blame everything on Ames; I was a little fool myself. I was old enough to know that things aren’t simple.”

“Goddamnit, look! We live here and they live there. We black and they white. They got things and we ain't. They do things and we can't. It's just like livin' in jail.”

“It ain't like midnight and cigarette smoke.
It ain't like watered down whiskey and coke.
I guess some things just don't mix like you hope.
Like me and you.
And diamond rings and old barstools.”