“The boys quiet until Ben looks across the table at Chon, holds his thumb and index finger a millimeter apart, and says, “We’re that close to being gay.”They laugh for half an hour.Collective dicks”

“Smart people sometimes get stupid, but stupid people never get smart. Never. Ever. 'You can come down the evolutionary ladder,' Chon has observed to Ben and O; 'you can't climb up.”

“In his mind’s eye, though, he sees——Talibanmoving like scorpions across a similar landscape his own caravan blown to shit blood streaming from buddiesNow I’m one of themHe sights in again.No time forLack of PTSDHe only hopes thatGentle BenIncrease-the-Peace Benis one of them, too, now.Now, Ben.Find your inner Taliban.”

“And it's all fun and games until someone loses an I.”

“He feelsennuidepressionadrift in his life. Purposeless, perhaps because—dig a well in the Sudan and thejanjaweed come in and shoot the people anyway—buy mosquito nets and the boys you save grow up to—rape women—set up cottage industries in Myanmar and the army—steals them and uses the women as slaves andBen is starting to be afraid that he is starting to share Chon’s opinion of the human speciesthat people are basicallyshit.”

“Also: do not fuck with someone until you know exactly who the fuck you're fucking with.And then don't do it.”

“I don't recognize myself. I don't know who I am anymore." And it's all fun and games until someone loses an I.”