“Childhood is a promise that is never kept.”

“And it made me nervous, because I'm the kind of person who should be kept away from romance, the way certain people should be kept away from guns or sharp knives.”

“Promises were like laws; smart men knew when to break both.”

“Neglecting to broaden their view has kept some people doing one thing all their lives.”

“It's fall coming, I kept thinking, fall coming; just like that was the strangest thing ever happened. Fall. Right outside here it was spring a while back, then it was summer, and now it's fall-that's sure a curious idea.”

“Washed and waiting. That is my life – my identity as one who is forgiven and spiritually cleansed and my struggle as one who perseveres with a frustrating thorn in the flesh, looking forward to what God has promised to do. That is what this book is all about.”

“A quitter never wins and a winner never quits.”