And in that moment I possessed and lost the whole world and everything in it and was left with the feeling and the knowledge, which is love, that no matter how we give ourselves we always end up losing. That to love is to lose, the moment we agree to the bargain. And that, being human, we keep standing there wanting to lose more.

No one is a virgin, because life has screwed us all.

You don't trade in the devil you know for the one you don't know.

Are all American girls as daft as you, Rachel?" "I hope so," I said.

Sometimes it takes courage to leave.

Most of our miseries we bring on ourselves. And they're the sum of our own stupidity.

I want a place. It has to do with the kind of person I want to be. And how I fit in to everything. I want people to listen when I open my mouth. And know I'm worth listening to." She stared at me. "That's all?" To me it was not all, it was everything.