“Why not? Why not anything? If God ain’t a God of why nots, than I say ‘Why bother,’ and I don’t think that’s takin his name in vain, I think it’s tellin the truth about what people need.”

“Risin up, when you’re weak, makes a person stronger. By standin, thery’re saying that [she] matters, and they matter too. I feel better when I think about how showin respect to one person makes every person makes every person worth more.”

“There’s one thing about getting somebody to help you though…you got to take whatever it looks like - their kind of help. And you can’t be choosin what you like and don’t like. Help is a take it or leave it kind of thing, and if you can’t take it like it comes, might as well leave it, cause it’s gonna be more trouble than it’s worth.”

“I think the trick is knowing where you're supposed to be, and lettig go of everything else long enough to be there.”

“God Himself, sir, does not propose to judge a man until his life is over. Why should you and I?”

“And do I perhaps miss the point altogether? Is the guy who wears Tommy on his back participating in a clever, knowing, postmodern joke, whose unspoken text is that we all secretly care about labels, so why not acknowledge that in big campy letters? It may be. But I don't think so.”

“I used to hope that if I went to church long enough, all my inside weight would go away. That ain't right. Jesus may have come to take away our sins, but he left our feelings right where they've always been. I still have inside me some of what I've always had, built up over a lifetime. I just keep adding to it, everyday, like everybody else, and hope the stew gets better the more ingredients I put in.”