“A disobedient child is one who blinks of his own volition, without being told to or even looked at. That’s usually when I get out the Behavior Cloth (a blindfold).”

“I've read articles by child psychologists who have identified "lack of self-esteem" as the evil at the root of so much bad, even criminal behavior. I don't know if that's right. But even if it is, I don't believe Belle and Joe will gain self-esteem by constantly being told they're special just for being there.”

“The individual does actually carry on a double existence: one designed to serve his own purposes and another as a link in a chain, in which he serves against, or at any rate without, any volition of his own.”

“Then, without really realizing it, I start to think of one thing I did wrong for each tree I look at. Wide oak- I didn't tell anyone when Ingrid cut herself. Baby oak- the time I told her I was getting sick of hearing about Jayson's arms and his blue shirt... Then I look out to where there's this huge group of trees in the distance, and I count those for all the times I called her some name, or told her she was being stupid- because even though I was always joking, it might have hurt.”

“Eye muscles can be mutinous, of their own volition looking at things no one really has the heart to see.”

“Most people wear mind blindfolds. I think that’s stupid. I wear blindfolds over my eyes.”