“Life is hard, and children have to be told how hard life can be…So they will be sympathetic to others. So they will understand that some people have it harder than they do and that a trip through this world can be a wildly different experience, depending on what chemicals are raging through one’s mind.”

“...it's not fair because I have been trying so hard and how long can this fucking movie last...”

“I want to have an assistant someday who will make freaky teens cool T-shirts so that they can do good things in style. I want to be Donna. So frickin' much.”

“Instead he thinks up the worst ending imaginable: Hemingway has Catherine die fromhemorrhaging after their child is stillborn. It is the most torturous ending I have everexperienced and probably will ever experience in literature, movies, or even television.I am crying so hard at the end, partly for the characters, yes, but also because Nikkiactually teaches this book to children. I cannot imagine why anyone would want toexpose impressionable teenagers to such a horrible ending. Why not just tell high schoolstudents that their struggle to improve themselves is all for nothing?”

“people outside of mental institutions need to have good morals so that the world will continue to work without any major interruptions—and happy endings will flourish.”

“...but Cliff keeps pushing for the truth like therapists do, because they all have some sort of psychic ability that allows them to see through your lies, and therefore they know you will eventually tire of the talking game and will offer up the truth.”

“I have to admit that Emily is a cute kid, and I instantly understand why Ronnie has written me so many letters about his daughter-why he loves her so much. I start to think about having children with Nikki someday and I become so happy that I give little Emily a kiss on the forehead, as if she were Nikki's baby and I was her father. And then I kiss Emily's forehead again and again, until she giggles.”