Janet Fitch, White Oleander

"The phoenix must burn to emerge."

"What can I say about life? Do I praise it for letting you live, or damn it for allowing the rest?"

"The cake had a trick candle that wouldn't go out, so I didn't get my wish. Which was just that it would always be like this, that my life could be a party just for me."

"And if there is no god?You act as if there is, and it's the same thing."

"Loneliness is the human condition. Cultivate it. The way it tunnels into you allows your soul room to grow. Never expect to outgrow loneliness. Never hope to find people who will understand you, someone to fill that space. If you expect to find people who will understand you, you will grow murderous with disappointment."

"Don't turn over the rocks if you don't want to see the pale creatures who live under them."

"Isn't it funny. I'm enjoying my hatred so much more than i ever enjoyed love. Love is temperamental. Tiring. It makes demands. Love uses you, changes its mind. But hatred, now, that's something you can use. Sculpt. Wield. It's hard, or soft, however you need it. Love humiliates you, but Hatred cradles you."