“My life before the flood was manageable; during the flood it was chaos. The National Weather Service only reported river levels, and at times, crest predictions. It didn't report or predict everything else that could go wrong.”

“Certain parts of your life, Dan, are directed by an almost desperate passion. Playwrights call it ends-of-the-earth type stuff. And it's good stuff.”

“[Mr. Principi] "My question to you, class, is our species crawling toward re-enlightenment or limping toward extinction?"The smart aleck behind me. . . was threatened by my propensity to fight when he should have been afraid of Mr. Principi's question.”

“...people in love always find a way...”

“People always ask me that, how it feels to be an orphan. I don't know. I want to ask them how it feels to have a family.”

“The law is clear, but the situation has to do with the enforcement. Laws are used when the good people want something done for themselves.”

“Every shove, every epithet, every time I was too scared to walk down a certain hallway. Every time I got threatened. Every time I didn't report it. Every time I got called sissy or faggot or homo. Every time I sat in class waiting for a teacher to mention gay people. Every time they didn't. Every long walk to the cafeteria. Every time I stopped breathing in the locker room while I stripped to my underwear. Every time I saw a girl wearing her boyfriend's class ring, knowing Walker could go to jail because of me. Every time I burped up acid because my stomach was churning so hard. Every second I spent assessing how I dressed, how I walked, whether I lisped. Every hour I spent writing the things I couldn't say out loud. Every time I shared those words with other people.”