“Reader, do you think it is a terrible thing to hope when there is really no reason to hope at all? Or is it (as the soldier said about happiness) something that you might just as well do, since, in the end, it really makes no difference to anyone but you?”

“I'm happy to be going," said Mig, putting a hand up and gently touching one of her cauliflower ears."Might just as well be happy, seeing as it doesn't make a difference to anyone but you if you are or not," said the soldier.”

“If everybody else your age is doing something very different than what you're doing, there's always going to be someone saying to you you might not succeed with it, you might not make any money with that... there's always going to be some type of obstacle in the way. All of those things will go away if you really focus on what makes you happy.”

“Have you no hope at all? And do you really live with the thought that when you die, you die, and nothing remains?" "Yes," I said.”

“I think hope is the worst thing in the world. I really do. It makes a fool of you while it lasts. And then when it's gone, it's like there's nothing left of you at all . . . except what you can't be rid of.”

“And I wonder if anyone is really happy. I hope they are. I really hope they are.”