“But wasn't there some sort of rule that said parents had to be smarter than their kids? It didn't seem fair.”

“They got everything money can buy, their bank accounts are fat, but they ain't happy. They ain't ever gonna be happy. You know why? They soul broke. And money can't fix that, no sir.”

“I leapt eagerly into books. The characters lives were so much more interesting than the lonely heartbeat of my own.”

“They have a baby grand piano, but no one in the family plays. They have shelves of books they've never read, and the tension between the couples was so thick it nearly choked us.”

“I stared at the enormous homes, the landscaping and flower beds immaculate. It was as if dollar bills, instead of leaves, hung from the trees.”

“Light fell, and so did my confidence.”

“Vanity is becoming a nuisance, I can see why women give it up, eventually. But I'm not ready for that yet.”

“Virtue would go far if vanity did not keep it company.Francois de La Rochefoucauld”

“Flattery is a kind of bad money, to which our vanity gives us currency.”