“I've always protected myself when it comes to love. And maybe that's the problem. By not letting myself get hurt now, it ripples into much bigger pain later.”

“It may be that if I lead the life I've planned for myself it may affect others; the effect may be no greater than the ripple caused by a stone thrown in a pond, but one ripple causes another.”

“Yeah, he'd said, maybe it's just my idea, but really it always hurts, the times it don't hurt is when we just forget, we just forget it hurts, you know, it's not just because my belly's all rotten, everybody always hurts. So when it really starts stabbing me, somehow I feel sort of peaceful, like I'm myself again”

“Appeals to justice or fairness are almost always stories that hide or protect unacknowledged hurts or pains.”

“If I let myself care, all I'll feel is pain.”

“He was right. I was letting myself get distracted, like a rabbit doing math problems instead of looking for foxes.”

“I know I've caused you trouble,
I know I've caused you pain.
But I must do the right thing;
I must do myself a favour
And get real, get right with the Lord.”

“I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel.
I focus on the pain,
the only thing that's real.”

“They are like me, I tell myself. And in that way I protect myself against them. And in that way I protect myself against myself.”

“Maybe if I act well enough, I'll come to believe it myself.”