She felt again that small shiver that occurred to her when events hinted at a destiny being played out, of unseen forces intervening.

But she knew that she had encountered one of the more devastating kinds of loneliness in existence: that of being in close contact with someone to whom she was a nonperson, and who thereby rendered her invisible and of no consequence.

The best things arrive on time.

If something anticipated arrives too late it finds us numb, wrung out from waiting, and we feel -- nothing at all.

A man from hell is not afraid of hot ashes.