“those who do not know how to see the precious things in life will never be happy.”

“It’s easier to fake it. When you fake it for sixteen years, it becomes part of you, something you don’t think about.”

“when you’re a kid, they tell you that it’s what’s on the inside that counts. Looks don’t matter . But that’s not true. Guys like Phoebus in The Hunchback, or Dorian, or the old Kyle Kingsbury– they can be scumbags to women and still get away with it because they’re good-looking. Being ugly is a kind of prisoner.”

“I love you, I thought. But I didn’t say it. It was not that I feared she would laugh in my face. She was far too kind for that. My fear was a greater one— that she won’t say it back.”