“If you can't fight and you can't flee, flow.”

“Novels and stories are renderings of life; they cannot only keep us company, but admonish us, point us in new directions, or give us the courage to stay a given course. They can offer us kinsmen, kinswomen, comrades, advisors — offer us other eyes through which we might see ... Every...student...will all too quickly be beyond schooling, will be out there making a living and, too, just plain living — that is, trying to find and offer to others the affection and love that give purpose to our time spent here....[Characters] can be cautionary figures...who give us pause and help us in the private moments when we try to find our own bearings”

“...ambitious intelligence [is] a force that can demolish the 'heart's reasons' — namely, a warm empathy, a considerateness toward others, a willingness, even, to let them become one's teachers, however humble or troubled their lives.”

“When you start writing, you may think you will use the book to guide readers down certain paths and through certain themes. But, the characters will take on a life of their own and steer you down unforeseen paths where you will have a startling encounter with yourself.”

“What happens when someone breaks your heart? When someone breaks your heart, first you are shocked. Someone will say you are heartbroken and you examine the words break and heart and heartbroken and you immediately decide that it's inaccurate. You feel pain in the region of your heart and you think it's your heart breaking but one's heart doesn't really break, something else does - faith. You stop believing.”

“Losing sometimes can be essenssial cause you wuddnt know how to treasure if you havent felt the pain of losing sumthng valueable”

“Don't be about just any life. Be about the life you want to be about.”