“...that's what we're made of, that moaning rocking fucking dick-in-cunt motion built the minutes, the hours of every day. Our bones and muscles grew into this rhythm. The Kin sold us before we could walk—baby toys. So now it's the way the earth moves under our feet, every step we take. The sun fucks us, the moon fucks us, the wind and the trees, chemistry and the Eagles, 1+1 and Jesus Christ, everything has always been about fucking, sex waiting behind every moment, ready to unravel the picture of This Is My Happy Normal Life.”

“I want to be with you, Em. I want to be with you every fucking moment of every fucking day.”

“No, we're not prisoners of flesh, I think, bound in our skins, and only waiting for the final judgment that will send us into fire or light. We're fucking prisoners of conscience, prisoners of fear and shame. We're fucking prisoners of sorrow, and it's time for our release.”

“We are not past racism. It took us 500 and however many years to get us where we are; it's not gonna change in one day or in one election. We made a step maybe, which they'll try and take away from us as soon as they can. But I mean what the fuck is the Tea Party about? It's not about "tea"; it ain't about "trans", either.”

“But you can't start. Only a baby can start. You and me - why, we're all that's been. The anger of a moment, the thousand pictures, that's us. This land, this red land, is us; and the flood years and the dust years and the drought years are us. We can't start again. The bitterness we sold to the junk man - he got it all right, but we have it still. And when the owner men told us to go, that's us; and when the tractor hit the house, that's us until we're dead. To California or any place - every one a drum major leading a parade of hurts, marching with our bitterness. And some day - the armies of bitterness will all be going the same way. And they'll all walk together, and there'll be a dead terror from it.”

“But I came to learn that God never shows us something we aren't ready to understand. Instead, He lets us see what we need to see, when we need to see it. He'll wait until our eyes and hearts are open to Him, and then when we're ready, He will plant our feet on the path that's best for us...but it's up to us to do the walking.”