“I now realize what Dorothy means in the final scene from The Wizard of Oz, when she says that if you have to look beyond your front door for your heart's desire, perhapsit was never there to begin with. Maybe, like Dorothy, I should embrace the love right in front of me and not search for some elusive dream that never mattered in the first place.”

“This must be what Dorothy felt like, I think. Maybe. If Dorothy was six scared teenagers and Oz was hell.”

“Lions and tigers, and bears, oh my! - Dorothy in Wizard of Oz (1939)”

“What a surprise it is to discover that you have never needed to strive to survive and be happy after all. Like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, who discovered that she always had the means for going home, you already have what you need to be happy and safe. You have never really left Home. However, if you don't believe you already have what you need to be happy and safe, it is as if it isn't true: If we don't know the ruby slippers will take us home, it's like not having them. The ego keeps us from seeing the truth about those ruby slippers- it keeps us from seeing the truth about life. Home is right here, right now, but we may not realize it and there for not experience Home, or Essence as much as we might.”

“I found a Cairn Terrier online. It’s perfect.”“A what?”“Pidge is from Kansas. It’s the same kind of dog Dorothy had in the Wizard of Oz.”Shepley’s face was blank. “The Wizard of Oz.”“What? I liked the scarecrow when I was a little kid, shut the fuck up.”“It’s going to crap every where, Travis. It’ll bark and whine and … I don’t know.”“So does America … minus the crapping.”

“You know Nana, I searched and searched, but could never find the key that unlocked the way. And now that I've stopped looking, I've finally found it. Maybe the door will open for me.”