Gregory Maguire, A Lion Among Men

"Waking up was a daily cruelty, an affront, and she avoided it by not sleeping."

"Remember to breathe. It is after all, the secret of life."

"The future reshapes the memory of the past in the way it recalibrates significance: some episodes are advanced, others lose purchase."

"The momentum of the mind can be vexingly, involuntarily capricious."