I Will Die Like A True-blue Rebel.

Who Knows What May Lie Around The Next Corner? There May Be A Window Somewhere Ahead. It May Look Out On A Field Of Sunflowers.

Men, She Thought, Were One Of The World's Few Sure Comforts, Like A Fire On A Cold October Night, Like Cocoa, Like Broken-in-slippers. Their Clumsy Affections, Their Bristly Faces, And Their Willingness To Do What Needed To Be Done - Cook An Omelette, Change Lightbulbs, Make With Hugging - Sometimes Almost Made Being A Woman Fun.

She Breathed Deeply Of The Scent Of Decaying Fiction, Disintegrating History, And Forgotten Verse, And She Observed For The First Time That A Room Full Of Books Smelled Like Dessert: A Sweet Snack Made Of Figs, Vanilla, Glue, And Cleverness.

Was There Any Human Urge More Pitiful-or More Intense- Than Wanting Another Chance At Something?

The Mad Sometimes Drilled Holes In Their Own Heads To Let The Demons Out. To Relieve The Pressure Of Thoughts They Could No Longer Bear. Jude Understood The Impulse. Each Beat Of His Heart Was A Fresh And Staggering Blow Felt In The Nerves Behind His Eyes And In His Temples. Punishing Evidence Of Life.