“This was real life, not a book. And inreal life, people met, nothing happened, and you wenthome. Or they went o� to Egypt and told you that theyweren’t a commitment kind of guy after six years. Thatwas real life. Not a guy like Marc. Or the marquis.”

“.. As far as they're conserned, I've been kind of a poor second best all my life, or I don't qualify at all compared to my brother. It's rough being around them and feeling like you never measure up." Collin”

“And if they really fuck it up and do make a horrible mistake, which can happen to anyone, from any culture, you still have to sit back and watch from the sidelines. It's their life. What you need is a life of your own. You can't hang on to them forever and live theirs or stop them from making mistakes. That's the deal. Once they grow up, they belong to themselves, not to us.”

“Sometimes life will make you give up what you love most.”

“If you let life pass you by now, it won't ever come back. You don't get another chance”

“People are so obsessed with that these days. As long as you're healthy, what difference do a few pounds make? Crazy diets. Thirteen-year-old girls on magazine covers who wind up in hospitals because they're so anorexic. Real women don't look like that. And who wants them to? No one wants a woman who looks sick or like she;s been from a refugee camp.”

“...But sometimes life made you give up what you loved most. Sometimes there were no compromises or bargains.”