“Happiness had never been something she’d looked for. A quiet day with no insults or wallops, that was the best she could imagine.”

““Perhaps the greatest gift ever bestowed upon us by evolution is the ability to believe we are more powerful than we are...”

“Our bodies belonged to us. Poor, disabled, it didn’t matter. These were our bodies, and we had the right to “decide what to do with them. It was as if they were just taking our bodies from us, as if we didn’t even belong to ourselves.”

A very interesting book that I could not put down. Very satisfying in so many ways.

“I want him to know I am not lonely, I have ghosts, I have my illnesses, I have a mouthful of half-languages, & blood thick with medications, doctors line up to hear my crooked heart”

“This 'relationship' with Ben was the first time since her crisis where she felt like she was taking control of her life, that she was in charge of her career, that she wasn’t sitting back and letting things happen because she was too anxious or exhausted or overwhelmed to make decisions. It felt fantastic.”

Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in the 1950’s and her male colleagues do not respect her. She is also very attractive, and that is what men notice first.

“She's the first person to smile at me today. The first to make me feel wanted. Understood. I blink back tears. It's unknown how many students' lives librarians have saved by welcoming loners at lunch.”