“In my case, self-absorption is completely justified. I have never discovered any other subject quite so worthy of my attention.”

“I have no more to say. If this be the case, he deserves you. I could not have parted with you, my Lizzy, to any one less worthy.”

“I was attentive to my knife and fork, spoon, glasses, and other instruments of self-destruction...”

“So therefore I dedicate myself, to my art, my sleep, my dreams, my labors, my suffrances, my loneliness, my unique madness, my endless absorption and hunger because I cannot dedicate myself to any fellow being.”

“I'm not the hero, Mac. Never have been. Never will be. Let us be perfectly clear: I'm not the antihero, either, so quit waiting to discover my hidden potential. There's nothing to redeem me.”

“I understood that it was time to quit postponing the embracing of my own potential. There was nothing more I needed to do to be worthy enough – and any other excuse I could muster to explain why I couldn’t step up right away – was simply that… an excuse.”