“That's why I preach today. Do not do spite," he said. "Spite does not pay. It goes around and misses the object that you aim and comes back and zaps you. And you're the one who pays for it.”

“I have come to love you in spite of---" Do I want to be loved in spite of?...Does anyone?”

“Why did Baudelaire — why does anyone — write poetry, in the teeth of all the evidence that one wants you to do so? No one wants you to write it and having written it in spite of them, no one wants to read it. Above all, no one wants to pay for it. For better or worse, a poem has a hard time turning into a commodity.”

“If you want to pay me back one day, that's up to you. I'm not asking for it, and I never will. The best way you can pay me back is by becoming the person you want to be.”

“I promise that the brilliant morning of forgiveness can come. Then “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding” comes into your life once again, something like a sunrise, and you and He “will remember your sin no more.” How will you know? You will know! This is what I have come to teach you who are in trouble. He will step in and solve the problem you cannot solve, but you have to pay the price. It does not come without doing that. He is a very kind ruler in the sense that He will always pay the price necessary, but He wants you to do what you should, even if it is painful.”

“You said you were a victim. That's why...that's why ultimately, you and I aren't matched for each other. In spite of everything that's happened, I've never though of myself that way. Being a victim means you're powerless. That you won't take action. Always...always I've done something to fight for myself...for others. No matter what.”