“...on the job there was nothing but the job. You left the shit outside the door. You could always pick it up on your way back out.”

“You can't imagine how hard it is to come home from hell and be expected to pick up the threads of a life. Apply for jobs, go to a factory, punch in, punch out. Put your lunch in a bag and get on the omnibus every day. Like nothing happened. Nothing.”

“There was, really, nothing you could use as a blueprint for your life, except your past. There was no starting over. There was only picking up the pieces someone had left behind.”

“Books should be like magical jewelled boxes. It’s the writer’s job to tell the story. My job [the artist] is to make you want to pick up the box, and to peer inside.”

“You have a worth outside of a job, outside the "jacket" imposed on you since birth.”

“Life will throw everything but the kitchen sink in your path, and then it will throw the kitchen sink. It's your job to avoid the obstacles. If you let them stop you or distract you, you're not doing your job, and failing to do your job will cause regrets that paralyze you more than a bad back.”