“It's that old, old fear thing again. Why does it creep along with us, attached to us like our shadow? Why can't it just leave us alone? Why can't we tell each other what we think and what we feel?”

“Everything comes home, my mother used to say; every word spoken, every shadow cast, every footprint in the sand. It can't be helped; it's part of what makes us who we are. ”

“One of the main reasons that we lose our enthusiasm in life is because we become ungrateful; we take for granted what God has done for us. We let what once was a miracle become common to us. We get so accustomed to goodness, it becomes routine; it doesn’t really excite us anymore.”

“What our closest friends do for us is to teach us true selflessness. We learn that while it might be safer for them if we keep them out, true friendship means letting them in. We cannot decide for them what they are willing to suffer with us and for us. While we certainly don't want to see our friends suffer, friendship isn't about protecting each other from pain so much as it is about helping each other to become what God has called us to be.”

“Why must women stay quietly? Why must we be little moons, each of us stuck in our little orbit, revolving around a planet that is some man? Why can't we be other planets? Why must we be moons?”

“Everyday, Athena. Everyday, each of us has to face a battle against our own shadows. Don't think you're any different. But this is why we have people who love us. If you can't fight, then I will.”

“What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so.”