“maura: i am isaac, will.me: don't be stupid. he's a guy.maura: no he's not. he's a profile. i made him up.me: yeah, right.maura: i did.no. no no no no no no no no no no no no no.me: what?no please no what no no please no fuck no NO.maura: isaac doesn't exist. he's never existed.”

“You can't touch me," I whisper. I'm lying, is what I don't tell him. He can touch me, is what I'll never tell him. Please touch me, is what I want to tell him.”

“But a man may then imagine in your work what he pleases, what you never meant!"Not what he pleases, but what he can.”

“Just don't talk to me about him, please! I love him, Melanie. I love him. He's not just a star, he's the whole fucking sky to me. He's the sun and every planet in this galaxy. It hurts me to think of him, don't you understand?”

“I thought he had to look for what he was looking for, and realize it no longer existed, or never existed." p. 233”

“Isaac was still clinging to the lectern. He started to cry. He pressed his forehead down to the podium and I watched his shoulders shake, and then finally, he said, 'Goddamn it, Augustus, editing your own eulogy.''Don't swear in the Literal Heart of Jesus,' Gus said.'Goddamn it," Isaac said again.”