“There were toes. Those toes wouldn’t be happy piggies. But they didn’t have any right to be in the way.”

“There is nothing more wonderful than feeling head-to-toe clean after you've been filthy, having a comfortable bed with clean sheets, being able to sleep in it in safety.”

“I love you,” Bill said helplessly, as if he wished those magic words would heal me. But he knew they wouldn’t.“That’s what you all keep saying,” I answered. “But it doesn’t seem to get me any happier.”

“A year ago,' I said, 'you wouldn’t have asked this of me.''A year ago,' he answered, 'you wouldn’t have hesitated to drink.' I crossed to the desk and tossed it down.”

“You never told me all this before," I said, by way of explanation. "You all have dividedup America into kingdoms, is that right?”

“No matter how we suffer, we have an obligation to others. We have to be unselfish enough to try to live in the right way, so others can get through their own lives without us fouling them up.”

“There were definitely parts of my character I didn’t approve of, and maybe from time to time I had moments when I didn’t like myself much. But I got through each day as it came to me, and so far I’d survived every thing life had thrown at me. I could only hope that the survival was worth the price I’d paid.”