“It's like many other things in life, Ellie. You keep on the path and all's well. You get off it and the next thing you know you're lost if you're not lucky.”

“And I guess you judge how well you're doing by how well you sleep at night... and what your dreams are like.”

“It's best to have your tools with you. If you don't, you're apt to find something you didn't expect and get discouraged.”

“I thought of telling him I didn't know about reasons, only about chains—how they form themselves, link by link, out of nothing; how they knit themselves into the world. Sometimes you can grab a chain and use it to pull yourself out of a dark place. Mostly, though, I think you get wrapped up in them. Just caught, if you're lucky. Fucking strangled, if you're not.”

“That thing about don't look up here, you're pissing on your shoes, forinstance, was that humor? Or a growl of rage?--All That You Love Will Be Carried Away.”

“Sometimes you have to go on when you don't feel like it, and sometimes you're doing good work when it feels like all you're managing is to shovel shit from a sitting position.”

“If you can't laugh when things go bad--laugh and put on a little carnival--then you're either dead or wishing you were.”