A joke was not a single-use item but something you brought out again and again until it fell apart in your hand like a cheap umbrella.

All his words and actions would now be fit for his daughter’s ears and eyes. Life would be lived as if under [her] constant scrutiny. He would never do anything that might cause her pain or anxiety or embarrassment and there would be nothing, absolutely nothing in his life to be ashamed of anymore.

I've been a compulsive reader for as long as I can remember.

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

I think you actually get a kick out of being disappointed and under-achieving, because it's easier, isn't it? Failure and unhappiness is easier because you can make a joke out of it.

As a matter of fact, I think there are more things important in life than "relationships.

but they had also settled into the maddening familiarity of friendship; maddening for her at least.