All men have sublime thoughts..

For all our penny-wisdom, for all our soul-destroying slavery to habit, it is not to be doubted that all men have sublime thoughts.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

We were fractious and overpaid...

We were fractious and overpaid. Our mornings lacked promise. At least those of us who smoked has something to look forward to at ten-fifteen. Most of us like most everyone, a few of us hated specific individuals, one or two people loved everyone and everything. Those who loved everyone were unanimously reviled. We loved free bagels in the morning. They happened all too infrequently. Our benefits were astonishing in comprehensiveness and quality of care. Sometimes we questioned whether they were worth it. We thought moving to India might be better, or going back to nursing school. Doing something with the handicapped or working with our hands. No one ever acted on these impulses, despite their daily, sometimes hourly contractions. Instead we met in conference rooms to discuss the issues of the day.
-Joshua Ferris, Then We Came to the End, 3

the chief disgrace in the world...

It is not the chief disgrace in the world, not to be a unit; - not to be reckoned one character; - not to yield that peculiar fruit which each man was created to bear, but to be reckoned in the gross, in the hundred, or the thousand, of the party, the section, to which we belong...
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

It was the only secret I kept from her...

In the entire history of our marriage, it was the only secret I kept from her, and eventually it became impossible to fix. With a secret like that, at some point the secret itself becomes irrelevant. The fact that you kept it does not.
-Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants, 327

I want her to melt into me...

Afterward, she lies nestled against me, her hair tickling my face. I stroke her lightly, memorizing her body. I want her to melt into me, like butter on toast. I want to absorb her and walk around for the rest of my days with her encased in my skin.
I want.
I lie motionless, savoring the feeling of her body against mine. I’m afraid to breathe in case I break the spell.
-Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants, 273

There are times I'd give anything...

Although there are times I’d give anything to have her back, I’m glad she went first. Losing her was like being cleft down the middle. It was the moment it all ended for me, and I wouldn’t have wanted her to go through that. Being the survivor stinks.
-Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants, 13

What, now I have no sense of humor?

“I know that,” I say. “What, now I have no sense of humor?”
But I’m grumpy because maybe I don’t. I don’t know anymore. I’m so used to being scolded and herded and managed and handled that I’m no longer sure how to react when someone treats me like a real person.
-Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants, 176

Age is a terrible thief...

Age is a terrible thief. Just when you’re getting the hang of life, it knocks your legs out from under you and stoops your back. It makes you ache and muddies your head and silently spreads cancer throughout your spouse.
-Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants, 12

I catch sight of my hands...

I reach for the napkin, and as I do I catch sight of my hands. They are knobby and crooked, thin-skinned, and - like my ruined face - covered with liver spots. My face. I push the porridge aside and open the vanity mirror. I should know better by now, but somehow I still expect to see myself. Instead I find an Appalachian apple doll, withered and spotty, with dewlaps and bags and long floppy ears. A few strands of white hair spring absurdly from its spotted skull.
-Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants