“It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is notto beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition isagainst the little voice inside you that wants you to quit.”

“It's hard to learn to listen to your instincts. It's easier for some who have a natural ability to follow that little voice inside, but for others it takes practice.”

“..and one day this will be the other heart that beats inside of you and on that day you will feel whole for the first time”

“When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.”

“Don't quit. It's very easy to quit during the first 10 years. Nobody cares whether you write or not, and it's very hard to write when nobody cares one way or the other. You can't get fired if you don't write, and most of the time you don't get rewarded if you do. But don't quit.”

“Can you understand? Someone, somewhere, can you understand me a little, love me a little? For all my despair, for all my ideals, for all that - I love life. But it is hard, and I have so much - so very much to learn.”