There's more than one way to skin a cat, my father used to say; it bothered me, I didn't see why they would want to skin a cat even one way.

She takes after Laura in that respect: the same tendency towards absolutism, the same refusal to compromise, the same scorn for the grosser human failings. To get away with that, you have to be beautiful. Otherwise it seems mere peevishness.

All you have to do, I tell myself, is keep your mouth shut and look stupid. It shouldn't be that hard.

I'm not senile," I snapped. "If I burn the house down it will be on purpose.

How could I be sleeping with this particular man.... Surely only true love could justify my lack of taste.

We understand more than we know.