Only now that I loved a grenade did I understand the foolishness of trying to save others from my own impending fragmentation: I couldn’t unlove Augustus Waters. And I didn’t want to.

He'd fought hard, Lida told me, as if there was another way to fight.

Babies are made through an act that you will eventually find intriguing but for right now will just sort of horrify you, and also sometimes people do stuff that involves baby-making parts that does not actually involve making babies, like for instance kiss each other in places that are not on the face.

All hurt is brain hurt.

She's just playing a trick on us. This is just an Alaska Young Prank Extraordinaire. It's Alaska being Alaska, funny and playful and not knowing when or how to put on the brakes.

Jesus, I'm not going to be one of those people who sits around talking about what they're going to do. I'm just going to do it.

He knew he couldn't tell stories, that he always included extraneous details & tangents that interested only him.