“I think we look for the differences in people because it makes us less lonely.”

“...Maybe this was another reason why people read: not so that they would feel less lonely, but so that other people would think they looked less lonely with a book in their hands and therefore not pity them and leave them alone.”

“If only my mother had a book to hold, she wouldn't have looked so lonely. And maybe this was another reason why people read: not so they would feel less lonely, but so that other people would think they looked less lonely with a book in their hands and therefore not pity them and leave them alone.”

“We are two different people, Ethan. Just because you could never decide which one of us you were in love with does not make us interchangeable.”

“I could not help but think how fortunate we are when we have real friends, people we can count on and turn to and who are always glad to see us when we are lonely.”

“But if I decide to decide there’s a different, less selfish, less lonely point to my life, won’t the reason for this decision be my desire to be less lonely, meaning to suffer less overall pain? Can the decision to be less selfish ever be anything other than a selfish decision?”