“The idea we came up with, well before we left, was something we coined Performance Literature. Excuse the use of that second word, because I realize it's presumptuous. Also, excuse the first word, and the term in general.”

“My dear child...fault is an empty word. It is a coin with only one side. It is not a reason or an excuse.”

“We are so afraid of the idea of having to die… that we always try to find excuses for the dead, as if we were asking beforehand to be excused when it is our turn…”

“We are coming up on the Sumerian apokalypsi–. (Artemis)I don’t think they use that word. (Kat)Who cares what word they use? End of the world is end of the world regardless of whatever term you use for it! (Artemis)”

“Human life, Borges said, is a cascade of possible directions, and we take only one, or we perceive that we take only one—which is how novels are written, too. You start with a blank page, and the first word opens up possibilities for the second word. If your first word is Call, those second two or three could be a doctor or it could be me Ishmael. It could be Call girls on Saturday nights generally cost more than . . . The second sentence opens up a multitude of third sentences, and on we go through that denseness of choices taken and choices not taken, swinging our machetes.”

“First, we parents have to back up school authority and quit making excuses for our kids when they misbehave.”