“Art, like Nebraska, is a journey into thin air, a walk into whiteness, where you lose everything but yourself.”

“What allows genius to flower is not neurosis but its opposite... ordinary Sunday-school virtues such as tenacity and above all the ability to survive disappointment.”

“Those who lament the dissolution of the American family-kids with no way to get to Girl Scouts, aging parents put into nursing homes-should remember what it was that kept the American family together: women's blood.”

“I closed the box and put it in a closet.There is no real way to deal with everything we lose.”

“Live with one foot in the air, but keep one on the ground. Train yourself to be aware of changes all around. Don't get stranded in the mill of lethargy and stall. Drive yourself with noble will to betterment for all.”

“You got nothing to lose, you don't lose when you lose fake friends.”

“By the end of the week she was thinking constantly about where her body stopped and the air began about the exact point in space and time that was the difference between Maria and other.”