“Once she knows how to read there's only one thing you can teach her to believe in and that is herself.”

“In the end, there's only one thing you can believe. Bodies are honest; they don't lie.”

“A woman who can read can educate herself. A woman who cannot knows only what she is told.”

“And all you can do is just read," she said. She raised her voice an screamed, "You just read and read and read!" Then she threw herself down on the table and wept.”

“Every lineament of the girl's wasted body is a testament to her inner turmoil. Willow can only imagine what kind of pain she must be in to destroy herself that way. She knows there's something ironic in her compassion for the other girl, but she can't help feeling that this utter mortification of the flesh is far worse than anything that she herself has done.”

“Knowing there's one thing I still haven't told you: I now believe, by the way, that miracles can happen. ”