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

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.

When people can do something simple to avoid conflict--say, hit a button or unlock a latch--they'll generally do it.

The bad things don't seem to happen to bad people.' That's because they already did. There's no original evil left in the world.

God is not attracted to mountaintops or church steeples. God is drawn to suffering, and the dark places it surfaces, which is why sharing pain freely feels very much like love, and may be the same thing. (207)

I figured anybody who talked about church as much as she did was using it a little like cocaine anyhow.

The irrational thoughts were the ones with the power to burn holes in your gut.