“For men, the answer was always the same and never farther away than the nearest sword. For a woman, a mother, the way was stonier and harder to know.”

“Isobel moved farther into the kitchen, not knowing whether to be relieved that her mother hadn't had an atomic meltdown, or mortified that she'd taken it upon herself to play head chef with the nearest thing Trenton High had to a Dark Lord.”

“God usually answers questions different than the way we want him to. He’s predictably unpredictable. Always the same at surprising us.”

“Bow down and pray in fear and trembling, go way back in the dark afraid; or work harder and harder; or stumble and learn; or raise up your fist and strike-but once the idea comes into your head you’ll never be the same again. Oh, test tube of life! Crucible of the South, find the right powder and you’ll never be the same again-the cotton will blaze and the cabins will burn and the chains will be broken and men, all of a sudden, will shakes hands, black men and white men, like steel meeting steel!”

“I've always thought that men are more romantic than woman.”

“Never trust a woman's tears, Alyosha. I am never for the woman in such cases. I am always on the side of the men.”