“Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved. Noble, even. That ought to count for something.”

“I've never thought about dying, But dying in the place of someone I love seems like a good way to go.”

“I had never given much thought to how I would die, but dying in the place of someone I love doesn't seem like such a bad way to go.”

“Nothing frustrates me more than someone who reads something of mine or anyone else's and says, angrily, 'I don't buy it.' Why are they angry? Good writing does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else's head—even if in the end you conclude that someone else's head is not a place you'd really like to be.”

“I'm tired of watching you be in love with someone else someone who will never love you back, not the way I do.”

“It's so awful when you need something from someone else, even though you're not sure what it is, and then you don't get it.”