“I had an occasional flash of understanding, but then got selfishly wrapped up again in my own problems and pleasures.”

“I enjoyed my own nature to the fullest, and we all know there lies happiness, although, to soothe one another mutually, we occasionally pretend to condemn such joys as selfishness.”

“Sometimes when we forget to do things for others, it's because we're too wrapped up in our own problems.”

“Well, I can feel superior for my good deed.” I flashed him a smile. “How’s that for a selfish reason?”

“I fell. I got up. I fell again. I got up again. Even when I fell on my face, I was still falling forward.”

“Every new encounter provides a new mirror for me to view my own experiences through, and there is a level of selfishness during this period as I hunger to understand more about the girls' lives in order to understand mine. If I could figure out what had happened to them, perhaps I had a better chance of explaining it all to myself.”