“If you're not getting hurt, you're not riding hard enough.”

“You're just here for the ride. For the incredible, indescribable Maximum Ride.
--Max's Voice”

“tiny: maybe there's something you're afraid to say, or someone you're afraid to love, or somewhere you're afraid to go. it's gonna hurt. it's gonna hurt because it matters.”

“If you're going to do it, do it very cautiously. If you're going to ride a bike, ride it the right way. Don't speed. Do it for enjoyment. If you're going to bungee jump, have two cords in case one snaps. I don't ride anything. I just talk trash. That's it.”

“When you can't remember why you're hurt, that's when you're healed.”

“I like to ride in trains too much. You never get to sit next to the window anymore when you're married.”

“I think the thing to do is to enjoy the ride while you're on it.”

“The only thing worse than being hurt is everyone knowing that you're hurt.”

“You're beautiful, Roza. So beautiful it hurts me.”

“Mama, I know you used to ride the bus. Riding the bus, and it's hot and bumpy and crowded and too noisy, and more than anything else in the world, you wanna get off. And the only reason in the world you don't get off is it's still fifty blocks from where you're going. Well, I can get off right now if I want to. Because even if I ride fifty more years and get off then, it's still the same place when I step down to it. Whenever I feel like it, I can get off. Whenever I've had enough, it's my stop. I've had enough.”