“She quietly expected great things to happen to her, and no doubt that’s one of the reasons why they did.”

“But why do I notice everything? She thought. Why must I think? She did not want to think. She wanted to force her mind to become a blank and lie back, and accept quietly, tolerantly, whatever came.”

“I challenge you, instead of asking with an attitude of doubt, “If the Universe or God loved me, why would this bad thing have happened or be happening?” ask with an attitude of curiosity “Assuming the Universe or God loves me, why did this thing happen or why is it happening?””

“She didn't want to know how a thing was done, but why…. Luckily, queer ones like her don't happen often.”

“Maybe this is why Misty loved him. Loved you. Because you believed in her so much more than she did. You expected more from her than she did from herself.”

“She wasn't a person to whom things happen. She did all the happenings.”

“What really happened to her? How did she die?”

“She did not believe that things could remain the same in different places, and since the portion of her life that lay behind her had been bad, no doubt that which remained to be lived would be better.”

“She did not know the nature of her loneliness. The only words that named it were: This is not the world I expected.”

“Metaphysical principles are tempting shortcuts but not reliable guides. There are good reasons why things often seem to happen for reasons—and also reasons why that’s not a bedrock principle.”