“I'll probably regret saying this, but...for me kin have always been bad news. Warmth and hope came from strangers as they became friends, mentors, allies, etc., while family is the shared trait of those who diminish my happiness and augment my griefs. I know in my bones that blood is not thicker than water.”

“Blood is thicker than water, but family isn’t just about blood. Family is about faith, and loyalty, and who you love. If you don’t have those things, I don’t care what the blood says. You’re not family.”

“And yet for that, blood is thicker than water, even if the only thing you've shared with your people have been hardships and miseries.”

“I had always thought that the relationships we make strangers are the hardest and the relationships we have with family the easiest. For me the opposite had been true. The family I was born into was not really my family anymore, while the family I made for myself out of strangers was mine.”

“Nevertheless, blood is thicker than water, as anyone knows who has tasted both.”

“I lamented in every gathering;I associated with those in bad or happy circumstances.(But) everyone became my friend from his (own) opinion;he did not seek my secrets from within me.My secret is not far from my lament,but eyes and ears do not have the light (to sense it.”