”Kärleken till litteraturen, till språket, till tankens och hjärtats mysterier så som den visade sig i de minutiösa, egendomliga och oväntade kombinationerna av bokstäver och ord, i det svartaste och kyligaste tryck – en kärlek som han hittills hade dolt, som om den vore farlig och olaglig, den kärleken började han nu visa upp, trevande i början, sedan djärvt och till sist stolt.”

Ur Stoner av John Williams

”Once when she was just learning to talk, I ran my hand across her face, naming every part of it. Later, when I put her in the crib, she called me back. First she asked for water, then for milk, then for kisses. ’It hurts. Don’t go,’ she said. ’What does? What hurts, sweetie?’ She paused. ’My eyelashes.'”

Ur Dept. of Speculation av Jenny Offill

”Hard to believe I used to think love was such a fragile business. Once when he was still young, I saw a bit of his scalp showing through his hair and I was afraid. But it was just a cowlick. Now sometimes it shows through for real, but I feel only tenderness.”

Ur Dept. of Speculation av Jenny Offill

”There is a story about a prisoner at Alcatraz who spent his nights in solitary confinement dropping a button on the floor then trying to find it again in the dark. Each night, in this manner, he passed the hours until dawn. I do not have a button. In all other respects, my nights are the same.”

Ur Dept. of Speculation av Jenny Offill

”The reason to have a home is to keep certain people in and everyone else out. A home has a perimeter. But sometimes our perimeter was breached by neighbors, by Girl Scouts, by Jehova’s Witnesses. I never liked to hear the doorbell ring. None of the people I liked ever turned up that way.”

Ur Dept. of Speculation av Jenny Offill