You discarded most of the lies along the way but held on to the one that said life mattered.

There are books full of great writing that don't have very good stories. Read sometimes for the story... don't be like the book-snobs who won't do that. Read sometimes for the words--the language. Don't be like the play-it-safers who won't do that. But when you find a book that has both a good story and good words, treasure that book.

We sometimes need to create unreal monsters and bogies to stand in for all the things we fear in our real lives.

It don't matter if you believe in God Nick, he believes in you.

If I have to spend time in purgatory before going to one place or the other, I guess I'll be all right as long as there's a lending library.

Waiting rooms were made for books-of course! But so are theater lobbies before the show, long and boring checkout lines, and everyone's favorite, the john.

One only wishes Wayne LaPierre and his NRA board of directors could be drafted to some of these scenes, where they would be required to put on booties and rubber gloves and help clean up the blood, the brains, and the chunks of intestine still containing the poor wads of half-digested food that were some innocent bystander's last meal.