“I believe humans have souls, and I believe in the conservation of souls.”

“But I believe in true love, you know? I don't believe that everybody gets to keep their eyes or not get sick or whatever, but everybody should have true love, and it should last at least as long as your life does.”

“When she fucked up, all those years ago, just a little girl terrified into paralysis, she collapsed into the enigma of herself. And that could have happened to me, but I saw where it led for her. So I still believe in the Great Perhaps, and I can believe in it in spite of having lost her.”

“I don't know what I believe, Hazel. I thought being an adult meant knowing what you believe, but that has not been my experience.”

“I smiled. She smiled. I believed the smile.”

“I believe in hope, in what is sometimes called "radical hope." I believe there is hope for us all, even amid the suffering—and maybe even inside suffering.”

“The thing is that I do believe in college, and jobs, and maybe even babies one day. I believe in the future. Maybe it's a character flaw, but for me it is a congenital one.”