“I reckon I am a smart aleck, but it is just a way to pass the time.”
“Basically, I have two speeds.... Hostile or smart-aleck. Your choice.”
“[Janco] paused. His eyes held a distant gleam as if seeing into his past. 'My first practice was a shock. I was a cocky smart aleck--'[Opal] 'Was?'[J] 'Be quiet. I'm telling a story here.”
“Please, God. I am a smart woman, I know words, I've read books; he's just a guy, he's just a person, I can speak to him. "Hmm," I say, and during the subsequent silence, I consider ways to kill myself.”
“It's not just that I'm stupid; it's that I'm just smart enough to know how stupid I am. I wish I weren't so stupid. Or that I were stupider.”
“No, I am that I am, and they that levelAt my abuses, reckon up their own;I may be straight, though they themselves be bevel.--Sonnet 121”