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

I expertly angled my raison bran to accomodate the g-forces.

She said, "It's not life or death, the labyrinth." "Um, okay. So what is it?" "Suffering," she said. "Doing wrong and having wrong things happen to you. That's the problem. Bolivar was talking about the pain, not about the living or dying. How do you get out of the labyrinth of suffering?... Nothing's wrong. But there's always suffering, Pudge. Homework or malaria or having a boyfriend who lives far away when there's a good-looking boy lying next to you. Suffering is universal. It's the one thing Buddhists, Christians, and Muslims are all worried about."

Throughout the book, she refers to herself as "the side effect," which is just totally correct. Cancer kids are essentially side effects of the relentless mutation that made the diversity of life on earth possible.

it was not enough to be the last guy she kissed. i wanted to be the last one she loved.

If I had a nervous breakdown every time something awful happened in the world, I'd be crazier than a shithouse rat.

The light filtered throught the leaves and pine needles above as if through lace, the ground spotted in shadow.