“Through the years I had quit on everything that ever mattered: college, going for promotions, relationships - at least the relationships that demanded any work.”

“First of all, we had to quit playing God. It didn't work.”

“To this day, I am amazed at how many of my problems - most of which had nothing to do with drinking, I believed - have become manageable or have simply disappeared since I quit drinking.”

“How did people have conversations anyway? How did they meet and then begin to talk as if they had known each other for years?”

“I have come to believe that hard times are not just meaningless suffering and that something good might turn up at any moment. That's a big change for someone who used to come to in the morning feeling sentenced to another day of life. When I wake up today, there are lots of possibilities. I can hardly wait to see what's going to happen next.”

“I simply had to believe in a Spirit of the Universe, who knew neither time nor limitation.”

“It will take time to clear away the wreck. Though old buildings will eventually be replaced by finer ones, the new structures will take years to complete.”