There are people out there who will not read books, but somehow they'll read my books.

Picture anybody growing up so stupid he didn't know that hope is just another phase you'll grow out of.

Because I can't hit bottom, I can't be saved.

Besides, hysteria is only possible with an audience.

Almost all the time, you tell yourself you're loving somebody when you're just using them. This only looks like love.

The big reason why folks leave a small town,' Rant used to say, 'is so they can moon over the idea of going back. And the reason they stay put is so they can moon about getting out.' Rant meant that no one is happy, anywhere.

The problem in this case was you can't be a middle-aged virgin in America without something being wrong with you. People can't conceive of a virtue in someone else that they can't conceive in themselves. Instead of believing you're stronger, it's so much easier to imagine you're weaker.