“Rule number six: no promises.""Okay", I agree easily. "No promises, ever.""Promise?" he asks."Promise.""And that's it.""That's the only one.”

“Rule number six: no promises.""Okay", I agree easily. "No promises, ever.""Promise?" he asks."Promise.""And that's it.""That's the only one.”

“I just wish Mary Elizabeth would ask me questions other than “What's up?”

“I don't want to be just another thing mary elizabeth is in charge of”

“I'm not looking at money, percentage points or grosses. This is my life, you know? To me, every day matters.”

“Exceptional talent does not always win its reward unless favoured by exceptional circumstances.”

“Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there, I do not sleep. I am in a thousand winds that blow, I am the softly falling snow. I am the gentle showers of rain, I am the fields of ripening grain. I am in the morning hush, I am in the graceful rush Of beautiful birds in circling flight, I am the starshine of the night. I am in the flowers that bloom, I am in a quiet room. I am in the birds that sing, I am in each lovely thing. Do not stand at my grave bereft I am not there. I have not left.”

“And she says she wants to expose me to all these great things. And to tell you the truth, I don't really want to be exposed to all these great things if it means that I'll have to hear Mary Elizabeth talk about all the great things she exposed me to all the time. I don't understand that. I would give someone a record so they could love the record, not so they would always know that I gave it to them.”

“To tell you the truth, I've just been avoiding everything. I walk around the school hallways and look at the people. I look at the teachers and wonder why they're here. If they like their jobs. Or us. And I wonder how smart they were when they were fifteen. Not in a mea way. In a curious way. it's like looking at all the students and wondering who's had their heart broken that da, and how they are able to cope with having three quizzes and a book report on top of that. or wondering who did the heart breaking. And wondering why. Especially since I know that if they went to another school, the person who had their heart broken would have had their heart broken by somebody else, so why does it have to be so personal? And if I went to another school, I would never have known Sam or Patrick or Mary Elizabeth or anyone except my family. (Pg 142)”

“Be kind to everyone, everyone is going through something”

“his mind's like Alcatraz. once something's in, it never gets out”