“I'd become more adept at being with other people; I'd lowered my expectations of them and learned to let my mind drift into neutral when they spoke.”

“...when people oppose your view, you can become a lightning rod, but if I were you, I'd let them stew...”

“Sometimes I'd hate to talk to anyone, and at other times I'd not only talk to people, but would even take it into my head to be friends with them.”

“I knew about loyalty about putting family before all others. I'd already learned some things I'd do to protect my own. I'd withold infomation from the police. I'd use people. I'd lie. If pushed hard........how far would I go.”

“I wasn't quick-witted or confident enough to play them at their cruel games. I'd feel the heat rush to my face as I flumbed for a rebuff, and I'd become highly aware of my heavy bottom lip, the position of my hands, of my entire body, and I'd end up looking silly and uneasy. I'd walk away hearing the other girls snigger, and it hurt. I didn't cry, but each time it changed something in me, deep down, shaping who I was and who I would become. Each time less confident yet stronger, more insular yet more self-contained.”

“40. My adepts stand upright; their head above the heavens, their feet below the hells.41. But since one is naturally attracted to the Angel, another to the Demon, let the first strengthen the lower link, the last attach more firmly to the higher.”