Everything was fine, and she had the rare, new sensation of being exactly where she wanted to be.

Letters, like compilation tapes, were really vehicles for unexpressed emotions and she was clearly putting far too much time and energy into them.

Better by far to be good and courageous and bold and to make difference. Not change the world exactly, but the bit around you

No matter how predictable, banal and listless the rest of my life might be, you can guarantee that there'll always be something interesting going on with my skin.

Oh you know me. I have no emotions. I'm a robot. Or a nun. A robot nun.

There's no shortage of orphans in 19th-century literature, but it's hard to find a single happy, communicative, functional parental relationship in the whole of 'Great Expectations,' even among the minor characters.

You start out wanting to change the world through language, and end up thinking it's enough to tell a few good jokes.