“My life is a patio of fun.”

“This is the first letter I have ever written. That a few marks on this piece of paper can bring you my heart in my absence is a great magic. Life is a constant source of wonder.”

“Simon blurted, "Can I put the dead hand in my blood?""May I put the dead hand in my blood," Adele corrected. "Yes, go ahead.”

“ I realize how depraved it was to instill false guilt in an innocent child's conscience, causing a distorted image of life, God, & self, leaving little if any feeling of personal worth.”

“If no one had ever challenged religious authority, there’d be no democracy, no public schools, women’s rights, improvements to science and medicine, evolution of slavery and no laws against child abuse or spousal abuse. I was afraid to challenge my religious beliefs because that was the basis of creation—mine anyway. I was afraid to question the Bible or anything in it, and when I did, that’s when I became involved with PFLAG and realized that my son was a perfectly normal human being and there was nothing for God to heal because Bobby was perfect just the way he was.”

“And pain is relative; My particulars may be "better" of "worse" than the patient next to me, but individually our biological framework limits our ability to tolerate suffering; that is what brings us to out knees, flips the switch of our depression, and forces us to retreat from the rest of the world. That is what we have in common.”

“Gareth's eyes slipped open. “You make me nervous when you do that.” “Do what?” “Brood. Your brooding is rather loud.” “Oh please. I was hardly—” His eyebrow rose. “Fine. I was brooding. It's not like you don't.”“Mine is inherent to my romantic nature. Cloaks and castles.” Adele threw up her hands. “That's it. You are forbidden to look at any more cheap books about yourself.”