“Two people making love, she once said, are like one drowned person resuscitating the other.”

“She said the reason that love is so painful is that it always amounts to two people wanting more than two people can give.”

“Awareness of insanity does not make one any less insane. Awareness of drowning does not make one any less of a drowning person--it only adds the burden of panic”

“When I was twelve, a fortune teller told me that my one true love would die young and leave me all alone.. Everyone said she was a fraud, that she was just making it up.. I’d really like to know why the hell a person would make up a thing like that.”

“Two drowning people can't save each other. All they can do is drag each other down.”

“I was talking to a woman last night. I said, “I’m not like other people.” She started to giggle. Then I raised my voice and said evenly, “That’s one blessing God gave writers — they’re not like other people!””

“Once, after we had recalled to each other an enchanted summer evening, I said, "We loved each other," and she answered, "I remember."”

“Drowning yourself won't help, she told herself sternly. Now, drowning Will, on the other hand…”

“He was swimming in a sea of other people’s expectations. Men had drowned in seas like that.”

“She was like a drowning person, flailing, reaching for anything that might save her. Her life was an urgent, desperate struggle to justify her life.”