“Just this once, let it be easy.”

“One problem with agreeing to keep a secret is that it always starts off feeling like an easy, little decision. But it doesn't stay easy or little. it sits there like one of those jagged ledges hiding under the surface of the ocean at high tide—quietly waiting to rip everything apart if you forget, for even a second, it's there.”

“It's easy to remember only the good parts of people if you never see them. Real people are much more complicated.”

“Sometimes you have to stop trying to control everything and let life happen the way it's supposed to, Tess. Even if it's not exactly the way you wanted.But what if it's not even a little like you wanted?Then you deal with it and keep going.”

“Just because other people think something, that doesn't make it true.Maybe there's some truth in that, but it's unsatisfying, bitter-tasting truth.”

“People say it's better to know the truth, but what if the ending's a bad one? Is it still better to know? Or is it kinder to keep that string of hope dangling? To believe that maybe if you just wait long enough, everything could still end the way you want.”

“No toys in the fish tank”