“Optimism is denial for chumps with no life experience"."What's pessimism?" I said."Religion without God.”

“Pessimism is not good for the soul.""I sold my soul years ago.""To whom?""The bitch goddess Success. She cut town before paying off.”

“Life is like a prism. What you see depends on how you turn the glass.”

“His experience and training should have taught him that families are the cauldrons in which violence is brewed. (144)”

“Maybe still waters did run deep. Or God on your side was the ultimate soul balm.”

“I saw this cartoon in the paper, once. That Viking, Hagar the Horrible? He’s standing on the mountaintop, holding his hands to the heavens, shouting “Why me?” And down from the heavens comes the answer: “Why not?” Maybe that’s the ultimate truth; what right to do I have to expect a smooth ride?”

“A good chunk of my life had been spent sorting out the scrambled communications, festering hostilities, and frozen affections that characterized families in turmoil. (257)”