Quotes from David Ebershoff

Sometimes when I travel, I like to close my eyes and imagine visiting during another era.

An artist sees that which does not yet exist. He or she imagines a future others cannot perceive. The artist - and the writer - reshapes reality so that it becomes even more vivid and lasting.

History devours, but at times it resurrects. Some lives must wait for history to catch up.

And once again Einar became exhausted by the world failing to know who he was.

My duty, I know, is to lead. I cannot offer an array of options. I must offer a long but narrow path to Salvation, and guide the Saints down it. Were that path wide and varied, it would lead nowhere; and I will then have failed both God and man.

Upon the exposure of his bribery, it is reported he said, "I should have paid more.

Rage is a candle, it will always burn out.

Although I cannot prove this scenario, I know it—and isn't that the ultimate definition of faith? Knowing what we can't know. Seeing what isn't there.

Anna's voice wasn't a beautiful voice - rough edged and sorrowful, a bit used, somehow male and female at once. Yet it had more vibrancy to it than most Danish voices, which were often thin and white and too pretty to trigger a shiver. Anna's voice had the heat of the south; it warmed Einar, as if her throat were read with coals.

When my mom pulled the trigger my dad had a full house, three fives and a pair of ducks. He was all in. The paper says although dead, he ended up winning seven grand. I once heard someone on tv say we die as we lived. That sounds about right.

I write not for sensation, but for Truth. I leave judgement to the hearts of my good Readers everywhere.

Under what circumstances does such outrage thrive? The territory of Utah, glorious as it may be, spiked by granite peaks and red jasper rocks, cut by echoing canyons and ravines, spread upon a wide basin of gamma grass and wandering streams, this land of blowing snow and sand, of iron, copper, and the great salten sea.

Under some Divine plan, it seems Destiny intended these two noble creatures to be united in either matrimony or warfare, if there is a difference. As the battle begins, we shall mount our hill with somber hearts to watch out over the carnage.

And now, if there are faults they are the mistakes of men. —The Book of Mormon, translated by JOSEPH SMITH

the trail, at infrequent posts, the weary Saints would

You and me, we were married and we lived in that small dark space between two people where marriage exists.

Love and trust are Siamese twins, as conjoined as Chang and Eng.

A final note on numbers: My research shows Ann Eliza was most likely Brigham's 52 of 55 wives. As far as I can tell, she was called the 19th because removed from the total tally were the wives who had died, who were barren, or whom Brigham no longer had sexual relations with.

Dear Reader, let me tell you this: Love and trust are Siamese twins, as conjoined as Chang and Eng.

You say in your letter the historian writes the truth. Forgive me, I must disagree. The historian writes a truth. The memoirist writes a truth. The novelist writes a truth. And so on.

Indeed, there are some mysteries that must exist without answer. In the end we must accept them for what they are: complex and many-sided, ornamented with clues and theories, yet ultimately unknowable—like life itself.

I've heard them say the heart's bottomless but I don't agree. I love my boys and girls but when my mind is clear I have to admit I wish I could give out more love.

Last year when my grandma fell and broke her hip she couldn't paint her toenails anymore. So my grandpa started doing it for her, even after he fell and broke his hip, too. For me, that's love.

Einar felt lonely, and he wondered if anybody in the world would ever know him.