“ Unknowingly, he prepared me to survive the rest of my days with the way he shielded himself from emotional vulnerabilities that slowly destroy the rest of us. Crystal Woods
“ I made spasmodic efforts to work, assuring myself that once I began working I would forget her. The difficulty was in beginning. There was a feeling of weakness, a sort of powerlessness now, as though… Alfred Hayes
“ It is not aloofness, superiority. It’s a protection. Who in this ravaged battlefield doesn’t want to gather close her comrades? Megan Abbott
“ Simon, she'd learned, was a man who studied people. He learned their weaknesses as a way of protecting himself. MacKenzie Taylor
