"Growing up in an Italian family, you use a harsh tone and 10 minutes later everybody forgets about it."

"I'm not a victim - I never want to be perceived that way."

"I was an English major in college, and then I went to graduate school in English at the University of North Carolina for three years."

"Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it's less good than the one you had before."

"Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control; these three alone lead one to sovereign power."

"I need to do things on my own, need to be left alone."

"It is a essential truth that love is the bridge that unites two souls across the chasms of mortal solitude — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"Stand firm when justice demands it, even if you stand entirely alone. Reflect upon this whenever doubt clouds your horizon."