“Her morning bus was due to arrive any minute, if she hadn’t already missed it. But Sascha was the type of girl who heard incidental music when she walked, and the score surrounding this timid, old cat was much more alluring than the dreary notes surrounding her bus ride.”

“What a twisted, twisted place, I think in retrospect… and yet when it was all happening back then, and for many days after I emerged, I couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps it had actually been the straightest place I’d ever visited.”

“But that was all teachers ever did, wasn’t it? They grew and grew and grew until they wondered if they were the only ones growing, and then they shrank and shrank and shrank… and all the while the children grew sharper.”

“I've attempted suicide five times, and I've been successful every time.”

“If riding the bus or the subway doesn't incentivize you to improve your station in life, nothing will.”

“The way I see it, truth only looks good when you're looking at it from far away. It's kind of like that beautiful girl you see on the street when you're riding past in the bus...there she is, this amazing girl walking by on the street, and you think if you could only get off this stupid bus and introduce yourself to her, your life would change.The thing is, she's not as perfect as you think, and if you ever got off the bus to introduce yourself, you'd find out... This girl is truth. She's not so pretty, not so nice. But then, once you get to know her, all that stuff doesn't seem to matter.”

“She is not a musical girl nor, intrinsically, a joyful girl; but the music of the four Swedes shook something awake inside her, and when she heard it she felt airborne and strong.”