“Loneliness comes suddenly like waves and recedes just as fast. That continues on forever. It’s the same for you. It’s the same for everyone.”

“...it’s just another one of those things I don’t understand: everyone impresses upon you how unique you are, encouraging you to cultivate your individuality while at the same time trying to squish you and everyone else into the same ridiculous mould. It’s an artist’s right to rebel against the world’s stupidity.”

“It’s a funny thing coming home. Nothing changes. Everything looks the same, feels the same, even smells the same. You realize what’s changed, is you.”

“Talent is its own expectation, Jim: you either live up to it or it waves a hankie, receding forever.”

“Christianity is wild. It’s intimate. It’s heartbreaking and soul-mending. It’s the wings to rise above the everyday and hope of a honeymoon with the God who has loved you forever. The party has just begun, and the best is yet to come.”

“Though every community is different, my personal rule is pretty much the same: It’s O.K. to feel like an idiot going in as long as you don’t sound like an idiot coming out.”