I did things I did not understand for reasons I could not begin to explain just to be in motion, to be trying to do something, change something in a world I wanted desperately to make over but could not imagine for myself.

she got a reputation for an easy smile and a sharp tongue, and using one to balance the other, she seemed friendly but distant

People don't do right because of the fear of God or love of him. You do right because the world doesn't make sense if you don't.

If I could have found what I needed at thirteen, I would not have lost so much of my life chasing vindication or death. Give some child, some thirteen-year old, the hope of the remade life. Tell the truth. Write the story that you were always afraid to tell. I swear to you there is magic in it.

... survival is the least of my desires.

I don't believe that there is any true friendship without a bond of honor, and the honor in friendship is the respect you give the other that she also gives you.

fiction is the great lie that tells the truth