“Sometimes everyone does the right thing and there's still a mess left to clean up. Someone has to take responsibility for it.”

“It’s funny how the good things are all tied up with the bad. Sometimes it’s hard to tell which is which. But either way, you end up taking your sugar with your salt and your kicks with your kisses.”

“The right thing and the easy thing are never the same.”

“Not bein' right isn't always somebody's fault. Sometimes it's just a fact, like the cards you pull.”

“Until then, you can do what everyone else your age does. Listen to music. Watch the television. Just keep your nose away from those books.”

“History was a bitch sometimes. You couldn’t change where you were from. But still, you didn’t have to stay there. You didn’t have to stay stuck in the past, like the ladies in the DAR, or the Gatlin Historical Society, or the Sisters. And you didn’t have to accept that things had to be the way they were, like Lena.”

“My mom always said, "The right thing and the easy thing are never the same.”