Judy Chessin

“Ammachi, when I come to the end of a book and I look up, just four days have passed. But in that time I’ve lived through three generations and learned more about the world and about myself than I do during a year in school. Ahab, Queequeg, Ophelia, and other characters die on the page so that we might live better lives.”
― Abraham Verghese, The Covenant of Water

“The whisky burns. How strange to try to drown pain with fire.”
― Abraham Verghese, The Covenant of Water

“To be listened to is healing,”
― Abraham Verghese, The Covenant of Water

“Mariamma, sometimes when you are most afraid, when you feel most helpless, that is when God is pointing out a path for you.”
― Abraham Verghese, The Covenant of Water