“Then they could discuss the possibilities of social inequity, the way your socks always fall down when you're wearing rubber boots, and the importance of being earnest.”
“Always set your goals higher than you could ever possibly reach. That way, when you barely fall short, you're still better than everybody else.”
“Even on the most solemn occasions I got away without wearing socks and hid that lack of civilization in high boots”
“They were big and black and rubber—the kind of boots you might be wearing as you came in the kitchen door, shaking off your rain slicker and saying, Grab the young’uns, Ma. Crick’s a-rising.”
“It'll be your damnation, boy. You'll wear out a hundred pairs of boots on your way to hell.”
“I'm twenty-eight, a socially appropriate age for settling down. I love Peter, but being with someone means being with yourself in a way that's harder than when you are on your own.”