“It's especially hard to admit that you made a mistake to your parents, because, of course, you know so much more than they do.”

“It's just so hard to feel good, you know?" I do know. And more than that, it's just so incredibly hard to feel.”

“I'm embarrassed to admit that I more or less curled up into a ball and let the misery have me." He grinned, sheepish. "It was much more pathetic than hearing voices. And, of course, you know I do that, too.”

“You know, El, you're so much more than the time you were with Bill and the attack. You took something shitty and you made a new future. Most people don't do that. They hang on forever. It's easy to stay in that pit of despair. Or let it be your excuse for not moving on.”

“You are more than the choices that you've made, You are more than the sum of your past mistakes, You are more than the problems you create, You've been remade.”

“Every life is a story. Every story has mistakes. If you focus too much on the mistakes, you will miss the story. In doing that, you are making a dreadful mistake yourself. Sometimes, it is the mistakes that enrich and give the story so much more meaning than it would have had otherwise.”