"You can't keep a squirrel on the ground."

“However appalling to consider, however tedious to enact, every novel requires furniture, whether it is to be named or unnamed, for the characters will be unable to remain in standing position for the duration of the story.”

“People will kill you over time, and how they'll kill you is with tiny, harmless phrases, like 'be realistic.'”

“The end of a melody is not its goal: but nonetheless, had the melody not reached its end it would not have reached its goal either. A parable.”

“Now people are much more receptive because they can just go online and just Google your name and make sure you're not, you know, psycho. But, before, I think lot of opportunities were missed by a lot of girls. Also parents! The girls would go home and would say, "Oh, you know, I was just scouted." And the parents were, like, "You're not going to be a prostitute."”

“Hope thou not much, and fear thou not at all.”

“Let every head of household see to it that he has on hand enough food and clothing and, where possible, fuel also for at least a year ahead.”

“Everybody starts out as strangers.”

“This business of womanhood is a heavy burden.”

Source : 1988 Nervous Conditions, ch.1.