“I was once part of a Christmas cabaret. I sang 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.' I tap-danced. I had a ten-gallon hat. It was quite absurd.”

“Animals used for food are treated like unfeeling machinery.”

“Any swagger is just defense. When you're reminded so much of who you are by people - not a fame thing, but with my size, constantly, growing up - you just either curl up in a corner in the dark or ...”

“What I really want is to play the romantic lead and get the girl.”

“I have a need to always make people laugh. I have a desperate need. I love a great sense of humor. The people I sort of surround myself with have that.”

“Women respond to comfort and a sense of humor. I was always able to make them laugh, so that helps a lot.”

“A word mother, means a world to me.”

“Maa" The only word that holds power to give you strength when you are in pain.”

“STAINSWith red clay between my toes,and the sun setting over my head,the ghost of my mother blows in,riding on a honeysuckle breeze, oh lord,riding on a honeysuckle breeze.Her teeth, the keys of a ...”

“We tilt our heads back and open wide. The snow drifts into our zombie mouths crawling with grease and curses and tobacco flakes and cavities and boyfriend/girlfriend juice, the stain of lies. For o...”

“The teachers complain that the students today are all lazy, ignorant, and stupid. But the truth is that you're smarter than they are. You're not even old enough to drive and you already know that n...”

“I told her about school and how I sat on a wall there and felt stories and words move through me ...”

“She has her own brand of strength,brought to the surface by the dim glow of the streetlight and the whisper of night air on her skin.”

“The toddler must say no in order to find out who she is. The adolescent says no to assert who she is not.”

“You label somebody 'New Age,' and that's automatic mockery: 'She cannot possibly be a serious thinker.'”