“You can be one of the smartest students in this school if you actually listened to what was being said and stopped focussing so much on how everything affects you.”

“Forgot about carin’ about someone so much you would do everything in your power to stop them having’ pain.”…“And how fuckin’ shitty it feels then there’s nothin’ you can do to stop it”

“Communication is defined not by what is being said but by what is being heard. For this reason, it is vital that you gain a good appreciation of how other people will listen—interpret, process, and assign meaning— to what you have to say before you can influence them effectively.”

“Yeah, listen you should really stop now, because I’m betting on the smartest thing that ever could come out of your mouth is a penis.”

“Everything is so fragile. There's so much conflict, so much pain...you keep waiting for the dust to settle and then you realize this is it; the dust is your life going on. If happy comes along--that weird, unbearable delight that's actual happy--I think you have to grab it while you can. You take what you can get, 'cause it's here, and then...gone.”

“Gregory,” she said, “you cannot leave me here. What if someone finds you and removes you from the house? Who will know I am here? And what if…and what if…and then what if…”He smiled, enjoying her officiousness too much to actually listen to her words. She was definitely herself again.“When this is all over,” he said, “I shall bring you a sandwich.”That stopped her short. “A sandwich? A sandwich?”