“Self-pity is a sin. It is a form of living suicide.”

“She just wanted to be comfortable in her own skin...But she would not stop to seek others' approval. The notion that she should never seemed to enter her head. Her right to live as she pleased was not up for negotiation, even if it ran against the grain of the milieu at Huntingdon.”

“The great purpose in life is to take your destiny out of the hands of others.”

“At home, he (A.C. Lee) encouraged Nelle to clamber up on him lap to "help" him read the newspaper or complete the crossword puzzle.”

“You took her as she was. She wasn't trying to impress anyone," said Claude Nunnelly.”

“I think part of your success lies in the shock of recognition- or as the Japanese might say, 'the unexpected recognition of the faithful "suchness" of very ordinary things'.”

“The Kansas state motto, "Ad astra per aspera" - To the stars through difficulties. ”