“I remember it so clearly —
how people, seeing me, would break off in midword.
Laughter died.”

“Laughter would be bereaved if snobbery died.”

“Almost seventy years later I remember clearly how the magic of translating the words in books into images enriched my life, breaking the barriers of time and space…”

“Directly the mulberry tree begins to make you circle, break off. Pelt the tree with laughter.”

“So many people have done things this year for me, and it’s… I don’t know.
It’s not embarrassing. It’s just gratifying, and it has helped me to see so much so clearly about the goodness of people and their decency.”

“For me, to remember friendship is to recall those conversations that it seemed a sin to break off: the ones that made the sacrifice of the following day a trivial one.”

“When my husband died, people kept telling me not to cry. People kept trying to help me to forget. But I didn't want to forget… So I realize, that if it's hard for me, how much harder it must be for you.”

“I have always been aware of how I break.
I know what kind of situations will break me.
I know what kind of people will do it.
I know how much it will hurt.”

“Hearts can break. Yes. Hearts can break. Sometimes I think it would be better if we died when they did, but we don't.”

“I steeled myself against laughter; I would rather die than laugh. I didn’t laugh, I did not laugh. But I died, I did die.”