“It was beyond embarrassing or humiliating or even mortifying. It was ego-slaying!”

“Julie always tried to stand beside me, or talk to me, or in some other way mortify me.”

“Get beyond his eyes and his smile and the sheen of his hair -- Look at what's really there.”

“All of a sudden I didn't fit in anywhere. Not at school, not at home...and every time I turned around, another person I'd known forever felt like a stranger to me. Even I felt like a stranger to me.”

“If the mind's not strong, the body acts weak, even if it's not. If the mind says it's too cold or too rainy or too windy to run, the body will be more than happy to agree. If the mind says it would be better to rest or recover or cut practice, the body will be glad to oblige.”

“HERE LIES THE MYSTERY PISSERP.I.P.”

“You got nothin' to lose but your self-respect.”