“I couldn't help what I'd done before I learned it was wrong. I could only do better in the future.”

“I was doing something I'd never done before. And what will I be able to do tomorrow that I cannot yet do today?”

“Eventually, I sickened of people, myself included, who didn't think enough of themselves to make something of themselves- people who did only what they had to and never what they could have done. I learned from them the infected loneliness that comes at the end of every misspent day. I knew I could do better.”

“I didn't feel sad or happy. I didn't feel proud or ashamed. I only felt that in spite of all the things I'd done wrong, in getting myself here, I'd done right.”

“It felt wrong to be so proud of something that I had absolutely nothing to do with, but I couldn't help myself.”

“Maybe I was being too picky. Maybe I didn't want to be close to anyone. Maybe I'd just be the type who couldn't feel love all the way or something. I couldn't tell what was wrong, but what was wrong was that it just wasn't right.”