Most children would rather preserve the fantasy of a loving connection with their fathers and mothers, at all costs, even if it costs them their self-esteem. When you're three or seven years old, it's less frightening to think of yourself as an unlovable, disappointing screwup than to recognize the fact that you're living with a monster.

People blush when one of their core truths is revealed.

The truth will set you free. Unless you're guilty.

The roots of any evil deed can be traced to the perpetrator's refusal to experience pain.

...Some people hurt so much they can't take what they need, even when someone wants to give it to them. (106)

Human empathy, while not found on any chart of human anatomy, is the reason we instinctively hurt for our children... it is the reason that one human being's intensely personal tests and triumphs can be harnessed to the good of countless others.

Maybe the trying is the thing. Maybe it doesn't get better than that. Maybe you never quite get there. And maybe that's okay.