“To survive one tragedy was to learn you cannot survive them all, and this knowledge was both a freedom and a great loss.”

“After all, the girl actually had faith in something, which was more than most people had in these dark times. It was wrong to destroy it.”

“A story is a wondrous invention.”

“We adapt to our sorrows, I suppose, as unpleasant as they might be. One cannot weep forever. One simply runs dry of tears.”

“One's child is always one's child no matter what age they might be. You worry when your child makes a noise, when he doesn't. It's a terrible kind of love. Terrible.”

“It was easy to imagine the beginning of time here, but also, perhaps, its end.”

“He was, however, unable to give much prolonged or continuous thought to anything that evening , or to concentrate on any one idea; and anyway, even if he had been able to, he would not have found h...”

“Nature can counsel nothing but crime.”

“A criminal remains a criminal whether he uses a convict's suit or a monarch's crown.”

“All I knew was, my Father was famous for being a loser, and a loser that wanted nothing to do with me, since the day I was born.”

“My feet crunched over dry hickory leaves. Wood rangers had stapled up Smokey Bear (Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires!) signs along the state roads. One cigarette butt flicked out a passing car wind...”

“Last time I was on the welcome Wagon, I was holding some guy by the balls for 15 minutes while the inspector explained why should leave (Birmingham) and go home... It were really painful.I bet it w...”

“It took me years to figure out that upset was upset, and tumultuousness was not the same thing as passion. Love isn't drama.”

“I just wanted to tell you that I understand if you go. Its okay if you have to leave us. Its okay if you want to stop fighting.”

“I'd heard of Evergreen Care Center before. Cass and I had always made fun of the stupid ads they ran on TV, featuring some dragged-out woman with a limp perm and big, painted-on circles under her e...”