“Our purest form of joy comes when people we envy get hurt. That most genuine form of joy.”

“Yes, terrible things happen, but sometimes those terrible things- they save you.”

“We have pain and hate and love and joy and war in the world because we want them.”

“Even if you tell yourself "Today I'm going to drink coffee the wrong way ... from a dirty boot." Even that would be right, because you chose to drink coffee from that boot.Because you can do nothin...”

“A motion picture, or music, or television, they have to maintain a certain decorum in order to be broadcast to a vast audience. Other forms of mass media cost too much to produce a risk reaching on...”

“A book is as private and consensual as sex.”

“Some experiences are universal. A girl is a girl whether she lives in West Omaha or Sweet Valley. Books are often far more than books.”

“A half-read book is a half-finished love affair.”

“The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,And all the sweet serenity of books”