When adults say, "Teenagers think they are invincible" with that sly, stupid smile on their faces, they don't know how right they are. We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken. We think that we are invincible because we are. We cannot be born, and we cannot die. Like all energy, we can only change shapes and sizes and manifestations. They forget that when they get old. They get scared of losing and failing. But that part of us greater than the sum of our parts cannot begin and cannot end, and so it cannot fail.

I went on spouting bullshit Encouragements as Gus's parents, arm in arm, hugged each other and nodded at every word. Funerals, I had decided, are for the living.

The joy you bring us is so much greater than the sadness we feel about your illness.

Read a lot. Read broadly... Tell stories to your friends, and pay attention to when they get bored... Write a lot.

At some point, you just pull off the Band-Aid, and it hurts, but then it's over and you're relieved.

Books so special and rare and yours that advertising your affection feels like a betrayal.

Because it's kind of great, being an idea that everybody likes. But I could never be the idea to myself, not all the way.