She knew there were only small joys in life--the big ones were too complicated to be joys when you got all through--and once you realized that, it took a lot of the pressure off.

— Lorrie Moore

She was afraid, and the afraid, she realized, sought opportunities for bravery in love.

— Lorrie Moore

She wore a lot of gray-green corduroy. She had been under the impression that it brought out her eyes, those shy stars.

— Lorrie Moore

So I needed to be womanized. I was losing my sheen.

— Lorrie Moore

So much urgent and lifelike love went rumbling around underground and died there, never got expressed at all, so let some errant inconvenient attraction have its way. There was so little time

— Lorrie Moore

Surely that was why faith had been invented: to raise teenagers without dying. Although of course it was also why death was invented: to escape teenagers altogether.

— Lorrie Moore

Tell me something wonderful," he said to Dane. "Tell me that we are going to die dreadfully and loved in our sleep."" You're always writing one of your plays on the phone," said Dane." I said, something wonderful. Say something about springtime."" It is sloppy and wet. It is a beast from the sea."" Ah," said Harry.

— Lorrie Moore

The night before, a whole day could have shape and design. But when it was upon you, it could vanish tragically to air.

— Lorrie Moore

[T]he normal and the everyday are often amazingly unstoppable, and what is unimaginable is the cessation of them. The world is resilient, and, no matter what interruptions occur, people so badly want to return to their lives and get on with them. A veneer of civilization descends quickly, like a shining rain. Dust is settled.

— Lorrie Moore

Then, when it didn't crash, when you succeeded in keeping it aloft with your own worthlessness, all you had to do was stagger off, locate your luggage, and, by the time a cab arrived, come up with a persuasive reason to go on living.

— Lorrie Moore