“Well, you know how it feels if you begin hoping for something that you want desperately badly; you almost fight against the hope because it is too good to be true; you've been disappointed so often before.”

“Hope is believing in something that eludes you. It's a desperate feeling in a desperate situation.”

“It was true: hope could be unkind. You opened yourself up to the worst of wounds because you wanted to believe that something good could finally happen. But if you didn't? You missed this. This intense and prefect moment in which, while the world was almost literally going to hells all around you, hope and reality blended in a single, perfect note.”

“People disappoint you so often. I hardly knew how to react when they surpassed all your hopes.”

“How to Comfort Yourself When You Have Acted Like a JackassEveryone does this occasionally, and you shouldn't feel too upset about it unless it happens quite often, such as three times a day, in which case you must simply get used to it. Remember, other people like you as well or better for it, because it makes them feel so superior; so you've spread a little sunshine. And at the very least, you've served as a bad example.”

“Waiting and hoping is a hard thing to do when you've already been waiting and hoping for almost as long as you can bear it.”