I wondered if my smile was as big as hers. Maybe as big. But not as beautiful.

For a moment, I thought of the word happy and it was a word that just, well, it felt like it was visiting me. I knew it wouldn’t last for very long and I’d be sad again and then it would be worse because it’s one thing to be sad and it’s another thing to be sad once you’ve been happy. Being sad after you’ve been happy is the worst thing in the world.

The heart can get really cold if all you've known is winter.

If you can quit for a day, you can quit for a lifetime.

Absent parents aren't abusive per se. They're neglectful. They love in a very imperfect way. There are parents like that, and they do love their daughters and sons, but they're not parents in the way that we might think of it.

I got to thinking that poems were like people. Some people you got right off the bat. Some people you just didn't get--and never would get.

Young men and women come of age when they look at their parents and see them not only as their parents but as people. They gain a lot of compassion, and it's easier to accept their flaws.