Go into hard things quickly, eagerly, then retreat. It's the same for thinking, writing, and life.

It was the first time in my life that I had been aware of my own existence. It was the first time in my life I had realized that I was alive. And if I was alive, then I could die, and I mean forever....

I was just learning how to read and was reading every sign out loud, practising, and when I saw Cockburn Avenue I said Cock Burn Avenue and then asked what's that? And Elf, she must have been eleven...

I learned another thing, which is that just because someone is eating the ashes of your protagonist doesn't mean you stop telling the story.

That to truly know happiness is to know the fleeting nature of everything, joy, pain, safety and happiness itself.

Remember what mom used to say? Shred the guilt.

What you do at the pulpit would be considered lunatic behaviour on the street. You can't go around terrorizing people and making them feel small and shitty and then call them evil when they destroy...

They say nothing is my fault, and I wish they wouldn't say that. How can a man be forgiven if nothing is his fault?

And what have you been up to? she asked.Oh, I don't know really, I said. Not much. Learning how to be a good loser.

Books are what save us. Books are what don't save us.

… to survive something we first need to know what it is we are surviving

In the airport we hugged each other all at once, a team huddle but with nothing but a Hail Mary left in our playbook. We'd been through all of this before. We loved each other. We fought for each...

... it was ludicrous to think that we could just talk our way out of shame, that shame was necessary, that it prevented us from repeating shameful actions and that it motivated us to say we were sorry...

The guy's name was Colt.Colt, said Thebes. Like a baby, male horse?I guess, said the guy, or a gun.Well, which do you prefer? she said.What do you mean? he asked.Like, how do you prefer to think of...

You put the fist in pacifist?

I heard Tash say: Nomi, you're sad man. Get a grip. Walk away. What have I taught you? And I thought: You taught me that some people can leave and some can't and those who can will always be...

Do you feel that we can rebel against our oppressors without losing our love, our tolerance, and our ability to forgive?

Things shouldn't hinge on so very little. Sneeze and you're highway carnage. Remove one tiny stone and bang, you're an avalanche statistic. But I guess if you can die without ever understanding how it...