“The Government justifies keeping everyone else in poverty because people seem to work the hardest when they're right on the edge of survival.”

“Maybe everyone is just waiting for someone else to save them.”

“Governments will rise, and governments will fall, and man will do evil to man, and all we can do is turn our hearts to good.”

“...even the most independent people sometimes needed help. And if I'd learned nothing else from my life thus far, it was that you don't always end up where you think you're going.”

“Jen, we did it. Everyone's free now.”

“He reaches over a goat that's come between us and grabs my hand."Don't let go!" he orders. Harper's hand is dry and soothing, while mine is sweaty with fear. We've never held hands before. I think about what it means in the village when boys and girls only a few years older then Harper and me wander around with their hands clasped together. They're always peering dreamily into each other's eyes, sneaking sky kisses...and soon after, there's a wedding.”

“That porch is a happy-looking place, and my father - burdened, stoop-shouldered, cadaverously thin - doesn't seem to belong on it.”