(My bounded brain was as) unalterable as a ball.

From time to time, I need a rest from the exercitation of my intellect.

She did observe, with some dismay, that far from conquering all, love lazily sidestepped practical problems.

. . . as she moved from table to table, endeavoring to understand the [gambling] games, she realized that either her memory was at fault or Hollywood had carelessly added an apocryphal glitter and subtracted an essential gloom.

A small silence came between us, as precise as a picture hanging on the wall.

I am growing meaner by the hour.