“Welcome to the real world Kerri. Shit happens. You don't get to stop it by being a nun or telling the truth or turning counter clockwise three times while facing the sun and clucking like a chicken. It's a crapshoot and sometimes you lose.”

“Don't you think it's time you got out of your own way? Time you stop ending things before they start, time you stopped imagining the worst-case scenario, and giving in without a fight?""And if things turn out as bad as I imagine they might?""Then you chalk it up to shit happening and get on with your life.”

“I unwind with wine—or a few counter clockwise turns.”

“Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.""Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit."Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt.”

“It's not like you take the right turning and you get everlasting happiness and you take the wrong one and your life's a disaster. In real life it's often impossible to tell which decision is the one you should make because what you stand to gain and what you stand to lose are sometimes-often-neck and neck.”

“Reading, as it turned out, is the easy part. Finding a good book is the real challenge. It's a crapshoot. It's like trying to pick stocks or find an intelligent politician.”