“A kiss can be dreadfully terrifying for the males of our species, I'm afraid." Rose said knowingly. "Sex is easy. All they really need is a few good thrusts. But when they kiss, they open themselves up and let you in. And that, my dear, makes some men's balls shrink to the size of raisins."Shelley snorted with laughter.Dex strode up to her. "Did someone say raisins? I'm starving.""You might try asking Max for some," Shelley said. "I'm sure he has at least two.”

“My dear," Rose said, "you might be surprised at how much happiness you can find in the pages of the shortest love stories. Unlike penises, their length truly does not count.”

“Dying is not the real tragedy, Shelley.""It's not?""Forgetting is.”

“I'm sorry, but you just can't fit fabulous into a backpack.”

“Children know when they're loved. It's when you grow up that you're more easily fooled.”

“I said you weren’t inconsequential. No one is. We change at least one person’s life just by being born. If you don’t believe me, go ask your mother. The fellows who write history books may not think that’s so special. I happen to disagree. Isabelle and her family may be long gone, but because they lived, regardless of how small their lives may have been, I believe they are worth remembering, even if only by strangers. - BEFORE EVER AFTER”

“Growing old is to be set free, Brother. It is aslow and long-simmering process that extracts from you what you are really made of. But it requires acceptance. You cannot put a flailing chicken in a boiling pot. You must accept the heat and the pain with serenity so that the full flavors of your life may be released.You may see this as decay, and it is. But it is also much more than that. As the body rots, so does the cage that traps us in our worldly concerns. When my legs became too weak to carry my body, I stopped pacing with worry. When my fingers became twisted, I stopped pointing blame. When I lost my sight, I stopped seeing illusions. It may be dark in the pot that I am simmering in, but I can see more clearly than I have ever seen in my life. I can see you, Brother, and I know who you are.”