Just because you didn't speak the facts out loud didn't erase their existence. Silence was just a quieter way to lie.

He smiles at me, and I am suddenly seventeen again - the year I realize that love doesn't follow the rules, the year I understood that nothing is worth having so much as something unattainable

People change, but only if you give them room to do it.

Most people in America want an easy read. I call it McFiction - books which pass right through you without you even digesting them. I don't mean a book that has two-syllable words. I mean chapters you can read in a toilet break. Happy endings. We are more of a TV culture.

That’s what religion does. It points a finger. It causes wars. It breaks apart countries. It’s a petri dish for stereotypes to grow in. Religion’s not about being holy...Just holier-than-thous.

You couldn't have strength without weakness, you couldn't have light without dark, you couldn't have love without loss

What could you give me," I ask, my voice shaking, "to make me forget ... that you forgot about me?