“places to huntplaces to hide aregetting harder to find, and petcanaries and goldfish too, did you noticethat?”

“But they were all tricks.They were very dull. There were pages and pages of words that didn't say anything.Or if they did say something they took too long to say it and by the time they said it you already were too tired to have it matter at all.you al re ady we re”

“That the young rich smell the stink of the poor and learn to find it a bit amusing. They had to laugh, otherwise it would be too terrifying.”

“The park grass looked greener, the park benches looked better and the flowers were trying harder.”

“we had goldfish and they circled around and aroundin the bowl on the table near the heavy drapescovering the picture window and my mother, always smiling, wanting us allto be happy, told me, “be happy, Henry!” and she was right: it’s better to be happy if youcanbut my father continued to beat her and me several times a week while raging inside his 6-foot-2 frame because he couldn’t understand what was attacking him from within. my mother, poor fish, wanting to be happy, beaten two or three times aweek, telling me to be happy: “Henry, smile!why don’t you ever smile?”and then she would smile, to show me how, and it was thesaddest smile I ever saw. one day the goldfish died, all five of them, they floated on the water, on their sides, theireyes still open,and when my father got home he threw them to the cat there on the kitchen floor and we watched as my mothersmiled.A smile to remember”

“Find what you love and let it kill you.”

“You gotta find what you like and let it kill you.”