“We did it!" I said, feeling limp with relief. "It actually worked!"Dr. Turgenev rubbed his forehead. "I had very big doubts.""Big doubts?" I said weakly.The Russian scientist shrugged. "I am pessimist," he said.”

“I began to feel like I was wearing a sign on my forehead that said FUCKED UP in big neon letters.”

“Hello, little girl," he said, which was only his first big mistake. "I'm sure you want to know all about hedgehogs, eh?""I did this one last year," said Tiffany.The man looked closer, and his grin faded. "Oh, yes," he said. "I remember. You asked all those... little questions.""I would like a question answered today," said Tiffany."Provided it's not one about how you get baby hedgehogs," said the man."No," said Tiffany patiently. "It's about zoology.""Zoology, eh? That's a big word, isn't it.""No, actually it isn't," said Tiffany. "Patronizing is a big word. Zoology is really quite small.”

“You said fucking two minutes ago,” Bruce protested.“Sure I did,” Joe said, his tone patronizing.“You did,” Bruce insisted. He was two tables away now, but apparently this was the argument that he didn’t want to let go.“I fucking doubt it,” Joe said”

“This was something you had to work through on you own," Jason said. "Besides, I knew you'd do the right thing.""Oh, right," I said. I wanted to throw something at him. I really did. "And if I hadn't?"Now Jason brandished something he'd been holding behind his back. It was a golf club."I figured Big Bertha here would drive them away," he said.”

“He said that doubt provided contour to faith, like shading in a drawing, that it allowed you to see what was really there. At the time we were learning how to sketch in art class, I felt like it was the one thing he said that I actually understood.”