“My neighbors have long since left, or they are dead. Some I killed. It was either kill or be eaten alive, which is not on my top-ten list of ways to die.”

“If I went in the cage, I was going to end up eaten alive. That was actually one of my top five ways not to die...”

“I’m not going to kill you, Nora. I don’t kill people who are important to me. And you top the list.”

“I knew how I was supposed to feel when I was with him. Well, I knew what I was not supposed to feel. I wasn't supposed to feel anxious. Not tense, either. Or maybe I was. Maybe this was normal. I didn't know. So I let him whisper in my ear and put his hands on my hips. And I listened to him list the ways in which I was slowly killing him. None of which turned out to be the actual way that I killed him.”

“Enemies will kill you with a knife in the back. Friends will kill you with kindness. Either way you're dead.”

“I'm counting to ten in my head.""Is it helping?""No.""It doesn't help me with you either. I used to life weights to alleviate frustration, but someone blowtorched my weight bench. How did you do it, by the way?""I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you.”