“I hope that, by this point, you're feeling a little less intimidated by the meanies, because I've got some bad news: Meanies come in many forms, not just human. They can be not only animal, but also mineral. In rare cases, they can even be vegetable, but we can talk about William F. Buckley some other time.”

“He also said that this was not just a human gift, that everything on the face of the earth had a soul, whether mineral, vegetable, or animal - or even just a simple thought.”

“You can only please some humans some of the times, so why even bother?”

“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone.”

“People say that time is a great healer. Which people? What are they talking about? I think some feelings you experience in your life are written in indelible ink and the best you can hope for is that they fade a little over the years.”

“We can rarely tell others what we really think about them--not just because it would so wound them, but also because it would so wound ourselves.”