“The government says Rant's alive because they need a villain. The kids say he's alive because they need a hero.”

“Rant goes, "Really, truly with her whole entire heart, does Echo hate somebody?"I go, doesn't Rant mean "love"?And Rant shrugs and says, "Ain't it the same thing?”

“Isn't a kid alive who doesn't dream about rewarding her folks, or punishing them.”

“Tyler lies back and asks, "If Marilyn Monroe were alive right now, what would she be doing?"I say, goodnight.The headliner hangs down in shreds from the ceiling and Tyler says, "Clawing at the lid of her coffin.”

“Rant said that view of time was set up so folks won't live forever. It's the planned obsolescence we've all agreed to...'Nothing says you have to swallow this,' Rant told me. 'You can always just die.”

“The big reason why folks leave a small town,' Rant used to say, 'is so they can moon over the idea of going back. And the reason they stay put is so they can moon about getting out.'Rant meant that no one is happy, anywhere.”

“Kids, she says. When they’re little, they believe everything you tell them about the world. As a mother, you’re the world almanac and the encyclopedia and the dictionary and the Bible, all rolled up together. But after they hit some magic age, it’s just the opposite. After that, you’re either a liar or a fool or a villain.”