“It's queer how the thing what attracted you to someone is the same as what you come to despise about them”

“In some ways the goals of teaching and writing are the same. You hope to connect to someone else, to make them care about what you care about. So that the things which matter, the things that matter to you, matter to them.”

“You can't drive them around in the getaway van.' 'How about we don't call it the getaway van? People might get suspicious.' 'So what should we call it?' 'How about the van?' 'It doesn't change what it is and that it's a shitty thing to do. Someone might see them in it.”

“It's all well and good saying you avoid pain by avoiding relationships, but what about the wonderful things you're avoiding as well? What about the joy and the intimacy and the trust that come with finding someone you love?”

“It's a strange thing, how you can love somebody, how you can be all eaten up inside with needing them--and they simply don't need you. That's all there is to it, and neither of you can do anything about it. And they'll be the same way with someone else, and someone else will be the same way about you and it goes on and on--this desperate need--and only once in a rare million do the same two people need each other.”

“What are the rules- how long should you stay in a relationship with someone whom you don't think is quite The One? Even if you know there are things you like about them (and things that infuriate you about them), how long should you give it? Is it better to be single and waiting patiently for Mr Right, or to stay with someone because they make you laugh, because you're having fun with them, and you're still young? And anyway, aren't all relationships basically killing time until something better comes along?”