You do right by me, I'll show you a life most suckers can't even dream of.
It's hard to reconcile this August with the other one. and to be honest I don't try very hard. I've seen flashes of this August before-This brightness, this conviviality, this generosity of spirit-but...
When you are five, you know your age down to the month. Even in your twenties, you know how old you are. I'm twenty-three you say, or maybe twenty-seven. But then in your thirties, something strange s...
I want to knit socks for the soldiers.It's not as easy as that, she said, looking at me strangely. It's difficult to turn a good heel. There are competitions over it.
And then I laugh, because it's so ridiculous and so gorgeous and it's all I an do to not melt into a fit of giggles. So what if I'm ninety-three? So what if I'm ancient and cranky and my body's a wrec...
The person following is never in control, which she knows full well and which is exactly why she does it.
After sixty-one years together, she simply clutched my hand and exhaled.
To say that I wished I wasn't there would be a ludicrous understatement, but I'd only ever had the illusion of choice: We have to do this, Hank had said. It's for Ellis. To refuse would have been an a...
The whole thing's illusion, [Jacob], and there's nothing wrong with that. It's what people want from us. It's what they expect.
I am further back, surrounded on all sides by wailing men, their faces shiny with tears. Uncle Al promised three dollars and a bottle of Canadian whiskey to the man who puts on the best show. You've n...
When will people learn that just because you can make something doesn't mean you should?
Hey! Shouts Camel. There ain't no woman in the world worth two bottles of whiskey!
Keeping up the appearance of having all your marbles is hard work but important.
And then I laugh, because it's so ridiculous and so gorgeous and it's all I can do to not melt into a fit of giggles. [...] If they're willing to accept me and my guilty conscience, why the hell shoul...
When two people are meant to be together, they will be together. It's fate. - Jacob Jankowski, Water For Elephants
Sometimes when you get older — and I’m not talking about you, I’m talking generally, because everyone ages differently — things you think on and wish on start to seem real. And then you believe them,...
It takes a while to get to the end of the hall, but I do—and on my own pins, too. I’m pleased as punch, although once there I realize I still have to find my way back.
Sometimes the monotony of bingo and sing alongs, ancient dusty people parked in the hallway in wheelchairs makes me long for death, particularly when -- remember that I'm one of the ancient dusty peop...
I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One or the other.When you are five, you know your age down to the month. Even in your twenties, you know how old you are. I'm twenty-three you say, or maybe twenty-seven....
You call your child by the names of all your other children and finally the dog before you get to his.