That boy hardly needed a mask when his naked face was already impenetrable.

Children live in the same world we do. To kid ourselves that we can shelter them from it isn't just naive it's a vanity.

Teachers were both blamed for everything that went wrong with kids and turned to for their every salvation. This dual role of scapegoat and savior was downright messianic but even Jesus was probably paid better.

...hoarders of guilty secrets are inevitably consumed with appearances.

In the big picture I write for an audience of people I've never met. By the final draft I'm looking for anything in the prose that's prospectively boring to strangers.

For that matter, thinking of one's self as exceptional is probably more the rule than not.

The most sumptuous experience of ingestion is in-between: remembering the last bite and looking forward to the next one.