“Among the problems with shame was that it in fact did not make you shorter or quieter or less visible. You just felt like you were.”

“Just because you didn't speak the facts out loud didn't erase their existence. Silence was just a quieter way to lie.”

“These things you did were like prayers; you did them and you hoped they would save you. And for the most part they did. Or something did; you could tell by the fact that you were still alive.”

“if you were quiet and blended into the background, you were less likely to make waves”

“Addictions [...] started out like magical pets, pocket monsters. They did extraordinary tricks, showed you things you hadn't seen, were fun. But came, through some gradual dire alchemy, to make decisions for you. Eventually, they were making your most crucial life-decisions. And they were [...] less intelligent than goldfish.”

“Make not, when you work a deed of shame, The scoundrel's plea, 'My forbears did the same.”