“And so it is that you learn how to pass, if you're lucky, to look like everyone else, even though you're broken inside.”

“I don't allow anyone to talk to me like that.
So you're lucky — you're a teacher.”

“When you're rotten about yourself, you become rotten to everyone else, even those
you love.”

“I get so much mail from young girls who say, 'I look up to you, you're not as skinny as everyone else, I think you're beautiful' … So when they say that my body is 'ugly' and 'disgusting,' what does that make those girls feel like?”

“I wish I had more friends, but people are such jerks. If you can just get most people to leave you alone, you're doing good. If you can find even one person you really like, you're lucky. And if that person can also stand you, you're really lucky.”

“Chill out, what're you yelling for? Lay back. It's all been done before, and if? You could only let it be? You will see, I like you the way you are. When we're driving in your car and you're talking to me one and one. But you've become somebody else, like everyone else! You're watching your back, like you can't relax. You're trying to be cool; you look like a fool to me.”

“Everyone thinks you're so strong and self-confident, but inside you're a frightened child, waiting to suffer betrayal again from those who should love you most.”

“You have to know how to look even if you don't know what you're looking for.”

“Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to somebody else.”

“I don't see,' I said, 'how people stand being old. Your insides all dry up. When you're young you're so self-reliant. You don't even need much religion.”