"And they had met at such a young age, their love had come out of thoughtlessness and impulse, she had fallen into loving him long before she knew herself, though it occured to her now that she might never know herself, that perhaps no one ever does, that such a thing might not be possible.."
"Who was she to say how she felt? What she felt remained a mystery, she felt a thousand things at once, she could not unravel the thread of her feelings with enough certainty to speak with any accuracy. Her mother was right, silence was better. It was something- one thing- she knew with clarity."
"She felt a sickness overtake her. Her late-afternoon walks had not concealed her meetings with a boy her mother had long had intuition of. Hatsue knew she had not fooled anybody, she had not fooled herself, as it turned out either, she had never felt completely right."
"You're like me,' said Hatsue. 'We've both gotten good at being devious.' 'I don't think it's devious,' said Ishmael. 'It's just what we have to do.'"
"'I know you do,' said Hatsue. 'But I'm trying to be realistic about this. It isn't that simple, is what I'm saying. There are all these other things...'
'They don't really matter, said Ishmael. 'None of those other things make a difference. Love is the strongest thing in the world you know. Nothing can touch it. Nothing can come close. If we love each other we're safe from it all. Love is the biggest thing there is.'"
"He spoke with such confidence and drama about it that Hatsue allowed herself to be convinced by him that nothing was greater than love. She wanted to believe this, and so she indulged herself and tried to be swept up in it. They began to kiss, but the touch of it felt to her false somehow, an attempt to obliterate the truth of the world and to decieve themselves with their lips."
-- David Guterson, Snow Falling On the Cedars
by far, my favorite of the books we hafta read fer AP Eng. | 
