““I couldn't think of anything other than her and the components of her. For example, her red hair. But was I so primitive I let myself be bewitched by hair? I mean, really. Hair! It's just hair! Everyone has it! She puts it up, she lets it down. So what? And why did all the other parts of her have me wheezing with delight? I mean, who hasn't got a back, or a belly, or armpits? This whole finicky obsession serves to humiliate me even as I write it, sure, but I suppose it isn't that abnormal. That's what first love is all about. What happens is you meet a love object and immediately a hole inside you starts aching, the hole that is always there but you don't notice until someone comes along, plugs it up, and then runs away with the plug.””
![“To my horror principles have wormed their way into [the] fabric of my being.” quote by Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d1d/steve-toltz-3783_principles_to-my-horror-principles-have-wormed-thei_21514.jpg)
![“[I'll teach you] how not to leave the windows of your heart open when it looks like rain and how everyone has a stump where something necessary was amputated.” quote by Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ce3/steve-toltz-3783_heart_i-ll-teach-you-how-not-to-leave-the-wind_361549.jpg)
