“… I begin with songs. They provide a sort of skeleton grammar for me to flesh out. Songs of longing for future tense, songs of regret for past tense, and songs of love for present tense.”Mary Doria Russell The SparrowSource: The Sparrow
“Watching him with one eye, she wondered if men ever figured out that they were more appealing when they were pursuing their own work than when they were pursuing a woman.”Mary Doria Russell The SparrowSource: The Sparrow
“Feelings are facts. Look straight at 'em and deal with 'em. Work it through, as honestly as you can. If God is anything like a middle-class white chick from the suburbs, which I admit is a long shot, it's what you do about what you feel that matters.”Mary Doria Russell The SparrowSource: The Sparrow
“I do what I do without hope of reward or fear of punishment. I do not require Heaven or Hell to bribe or scare me into acting decently.”Mary Doria Russell The SparrowSource: The Sparrow
“One minute, she was in the State of Puerto Rico and the next minute, she was in the State of Persistent Vegetables.”Mary Doria Russell The SparrowThe Sparrow, Ballantine Books, 1996, page 115.
