“I don't know if it's better to have people laugh at what you are or just not understand.”

“And, anyway, friendship is different in another language; a foreign friend doesn't have to understand what you feel, and I don't expect it. It's enough if he understands what you just said.”

“He shook his head and gave this laugh, a good laugh, and just looked at me. "You always this happy?""No," I said, laughing. "It's you. Every time I see you, I just...I don't know. You make me smile.”

“You're a shameful opportunist! What you don't understand is that it's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!"You have it backwards... it's better to live on your feet than to die on your knees”

“There are lots of guys out there who write a better prose line than I do and who have a better understanding of what people are really like and what humanity is supposed to mean – hell, I know that.”

“I don't want to make people mad. I just... well, how can people get better if you don't tell them what you honestly think?”