Now she and the widow had something in common, though loss did not pass from one person to another like a baton. It just formed a bigger and bigger pool of carriers. And she thought, scratching the coarseness of the horse's mane, it did not leave, once lodged, did it? It simply changed form, and asked repeatedly for attention and care as each year revealed a new knot to cry out and consider, smaller, sure, but never gone... Out of my body, these beautiful monsters.

— Aimee Bender

Ponytail girl leaned over and she and the tall boy kissed, and it was carcinogen gums and magical.

— Aimee Bender

Several of the girls at the party had had sex, something which sounded appealing but only if it could happen with blindfolds in a time warp plus amnesia

— Aimee Bender

She could feel it brimming on her lips, that superstar smile, the bow shape, the teeth long and solid tombstones.

— Aimee Bender

Sherrie would be there, and the last time I’d seen her at a social event she burst into tears when she saw me and ran out of the room. You’re upset, I’d yelled after her, meanly.

— Aimee Bender

That," she said, "is a little closer to how I imagine it works. Whether you pray has absolutely nothing to do with the person to your left. It's like saying you shouldn't get the moon in your window, or else the other cars wouldn't get the moon in their windows. But everyone gets the moon. It's not an option, to not have the moon in your window. You just see it. It's there." She bit her lip. The window in the office grew golden with late afternoon." Half the world can't see the moon," said the doctor." It's not the greatest example," said the rabbi.

— Aimee Bender

That's the thing with handmade items. They still have the person's mark on them, and when you hold them, you feel less alone.

— Aimee Bender

The best way I can think to describe it, she said,' is the way, when you're driving on the freeway at night how everyone can see the moon in their window. Every car on the road. Every car feels the moon is following that car, even in the other direction, right? Everyone in that entire hemisphere can see the moon and think it is there for them, is following where they go.

— Aimee Bender

The phone is about the same size as a cigarette pack. It's no surprise to me that the traditional cigarette lighter in many cars has turned into the space we use to recharge our phones. They are kin. The phone, like the cigarette, lets the Dexter/former smoker drop out of any social interaction for a second to get a break and make a little love to the beautiful object. We need something, people. We can't live propless.

— Aimee Bender

There are students that are scattered, who need to see something through to the finish, but I would say there are possibly more who do not entertain the leaps of the mind that need to be nurtured, and this desire to finish becomes more about being a good student than about finishing something interesting. Where does work ethic fit in with writing? I think that's pretty complicated from one writer to the next. You need some kind of work ethic, but what does it look like for you?

— Aimee Bender