“His malice was aimed at himself; with shame and contempt he recollected his "cowardice.”

“The man who grounds his action on another's cowardice, is essentially a coward himself.”

“Weakness' is weakness only in light of the aims man sets for himself, the instruments at his disposal and the laws he imposes.”

“But by God, he was going to stop running from his cowardice. He had to own his shit - even if it made him hate himself to the core. Because maybe if he did, he'd stop trying to distract himself with sex and drinking, and figure out what he did want.Apart from Blay, that was.”

“When would he realize that it wasn't his infidelity I couldn't bear, but his cowardice?”

“The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell, whether he knows it or not. He will be dining for the duration on a diet of isolation, rejection, self-doubt, despair, ridicule, contempt, and humiliation.”