“Goddamn, sometimes it hurt to be free.”

“For the first time in his life, he was going to be a goddamn hero.”

“One of the drawbacks of sleeping with whores, he thought lazily. You got what you paid for, and not a goddamn thing more.”

“To make real friends you have to put yourself out there. Sometimes people will let you down, but you can't let that stop you. If you get hurt, you just pick yourself up, dust off your feelings, and try again.”

“Real friends. The kind that don't purposely hurt your feelings or stop liking you for no reason.”

“I know about forgiving people and loving them anyway, even after they hurt you.”

“We women make choices for others, not for ourselves, and when we are mothers, we...bear what we must for our children. You will protect them. It will hurt you; it will hurt them. Your job is to hide that your heart is breaking and do what they need you to do.”