“You'll have to do better than that measly steel blade to make a dent in me.”

“Better not to have loved at all, than to love and have lost.”

“The old dictum was backward. It should be "Better not tohave loved at all, than to love and have lost." I had done theright thing, I reassured myself. So why did it feel like I hadmade the biggest mistake of my life?”

“I can't promise you an ordinary experience, Kate. I wish I could transform myself into a normal man and be there for you, always, without the trauma that defines my life as "the walking dead." Since that isn't possible, I can only reassure you that I will do everything in my power to make it up to you. To give you more than a normal boyfriend could. I have no idea what that will mean, exactly, but I'm looking forward to finding out. With you.”

“I had feared that love would make me vulnerable. Instead I felt empowered.”

“Jules wants me to tell you that it's a shame you have to fall for someone as boring as myself. He wishes he could take my place and show you how well an older man can treat a lady." He talked back to the air. "Yeah, right, buddy. What are you, like twenty-seven years older than me? Well, at the moment we're both nineteen, so back off.”

“I spent the rest of my day in someone else’s story. The rare moments that I put the book down, my own pain returned in burning stabs. I felt like a circus knife thrower’s target. If I held my mind immobile, I might avoid being hit by the blades whizzing by my head.”