depression is not a side effect of cancer. Depression is a side effect of dying.

And then something invisible snapped insider her, and that which had come together commenced to fall apart.

Margo's beauty was a kind of sealed vessel of perfection--uncracked and uncrackable.

Once you think a thought, it is extremely difficult to unthink it.

C'mon Pudge. I'm teasing. You have to be tough. I didn't know how bad it was-- and I'm sorry, and they'll regret it-- but you have to be tough.

[This] is very important to remember when reading or writing or talking or whatever: You are never, ever choosing whether to use symbols. You are choosing which symbols to use.

Gratitude is the proper response for the absolute astonishment of getting to be alive, and aware, and an essential part of this crazy, sprawling story.