I was hiding behind athletics and all my jockitude, so I didn't have to deal with being ostracized as the weird art kid.
I hasten to laugh at everything, for fear of being obliged to weep.
Hiding behind a tougher outer image as a teenager feels cooler and safer compared to admitting, perhaps, that you're the very opposite.
I knew her well enough to understand that when Delia pushed you away, it was her way of making sure she didn't get shoved first.
My dad told me if I was ever intimidated by anyone, just picture them with their clothes off. He said that's how he dealt with my mom.
I saw people who were hostile; they had felt so much hurt that hostility was their only defense against being crushed again.
Judging is a preemptive attack against that which you most desire - intimacy and acceptance - that is launched before you can be rejected or refused.
Anger is the ego's way of cloaking fear to make what is frail seem formidable.
