“the thing about pessimism is that in most cases it's nothing more than a front behind which a body can hide its most sweetful yet painful hopes. please forgive mine.”

“Never hide things from hardcore thinkers. They get more aggravated, more provoked by confusion than the most painful truths.”

“Culture hides more than it reveals, and strangely enough what it hides, it hides most effectively from its own participants.”

“I hate the dark. It lets your mind imagine the scariest things hiding in it while in most cases there is nothing there.”

“But then he remembered what George had told him about pain. You know what you can do, even if your body says quit. It's only pain."It's only pain, he thought, hearing George's voice and seeing his eagle-face. If anyone would know, George would, he thought. And truly, he thought, it's the most useful one thing a body can know.”

“There is nothing between us but raw emotion, and it's painful yet has the sweet sting of addiction.”