Quotes from Kim Fay

The one thing to remember about an adventure is that if it turns out the way you expect it to, it has not been an adventure at all.

Even if you don't find what you think you're looking for, darling, it's the going out and looking for it that counts.

Too many people surrender to a place of safety. That place where all they do is long to sleep so they can dream about living.

The less we cement ourselves to our certainties, the fuller our lives can be.

More than any expert Irene had met, Mr. Simms mastered the intricacies of dealing in art. He understood an object's worth, not solely its dollar value but how that value could be manipulated into emotional currency.

When Angkorian society began, Paris and London were not much more than elaborate villages. Europe was crawling with barbarians, and here were the Khmer engineering sophisticated irrigation systems and constructing the biggest temple in the world.

when we were walking through Angkor War, I found myself wondering about what is lost when one culture is systematically annihilated so another can thrive in the name of progress. Think about it, what might have happened if Cambodia hadn't eventually been taken over by Siam and then France - what the Cambodians could offer the world if they're given the opportunity to follow through with what they're meant to become.

Dazzling jacaranda petals covered the sidewalk like a carpet of amethyst velvet. It always amazes me how the trees sit so quietly, unnoticed all spring, until one day it feels as if every single one throughout the city bursts with blossoms at the exact same second.

Too many people surrender to a place of safety. That place where all they do is long to sleep so they can dream about living. Even if you don't find what you think you're looking for, darling, it's the going out and looking for it that counts. That is the only way you can know you have lived.

Your jam puts store-bought to shame. As I ate it on a fresh croissant from the French bakery at the Farmers Market down the street from my house, I savored the image you painted with your words. I would love to spend a summer morning in the Pacific Northwest sunshine picking wild blackberries. I also crave your backyard access to crisp apples, plums, and pears, although I am not sure I would trade them for the grapefruit and oranges I pluck from my own trees for breakfast whenever I like.

Spring is well underway, and the wild cherry trees are in full bloom. The fields are filled with darling violets and buttercups, and the sides of the road lined with the blossoms that will become berries in the summer heat. I know from the weather report that a crisp spring light is shining down on the navy blue water of Saratoga Passage, and my view, whether I can see it or not, will remain unchanged. I wrote to you once about the comfort I find in that. This remains true.

There is unequaled satisfaction in composing words on a blank page, sealing them in an envelope, writing an address in my own messy hand, adding a stamp, walking it to the mailbox, and raising the flag. It's like preparing a gift, and I feel like I receive one when a letter arrives....

I'm beginning to understand that the two of them squabble simply for amusement's sake.

If there's a full moon we can dance in its radiant ivory light.

the facade is an ornate confection of Spanish, Italian, and Moorish influences.

Even though winter was on its way, geraniums were in full bloom in bright blue Maxwell House cans on the front porch.

Until now, she had known herself only as a person who yearned. A woman who had what she wanted was a stranger to her. But here, in this faraway temple, that stranger was finally within sight.

Loneliness is not about what happens when you are alone, but what happens when you are with others. It is about how willing you are to open your heart and allow another to get close to you.

this was Irene's arrival in Cambodia, her entire being narrowed to a single pinpoint of expectation as the pinnacles atop the towers sparked and burst into flame.

Her legs are as limp as seaweed.