“We can't change the world overnight, Reesa. But we begin by changing the way we choose to live in it.”

“Oh, child, there's no explainin' the meanness in this world." Armetta shakes her head, wipes wetness off her cheek, then cradles my hands in her palms. "But there's goodness here, too. You can't never lose sight of that, hold on to it. It's the goodness that gets us through.”

“We are alive. We are human, with good and bad in us. That's all we know for sure. We can't create a new species or a new world. That's been done. Now we have to live within those boundaries . What are our choices? We can despair and curse, and change nothing. We can choose evil like our enemies have done and create a world based on hate. Or we can try to make things better.”

“God and I aren't exactly on speaking terms these days.”

“It is founded on the worst instincts of mankind. At its best, it is intolerant and bigoted. At its worst, it is sadistic and brutal. Between these two poles it has its existence.”

“Because you believed in me, I figured I was honor-bound to believe in myself.”

“Nothing like an endangered pocketbook to help a businessman find his conscience.”