Tommy Wallach

And really, what right did Peter have to be pissed at some aging high school history teacher, when his own life was so freakishly, criminally good?

That was what life was supposed to do, right? Just keep getting better and better?

Would any part of the past four years matter at all four years from now?

“Pyrrhic victory,” which came from Roman times and meant that you’d won something, like a battle, but in order to win, you had to lose so much that you really hadn’t won at all.

The best books, they don’t talk about things you never thought about before. They talk about things you’d always thought about, but that you didn’t think anyone else had thought about. You read them, and suddenly you’re a little bit less alone in the world. You’re part of this cosmic community of people who’ve thought about this thing, whatever it happens to be.

“My point, Peter, is that you’re one of those people who’ve been blessed not only with talent, but with self-awareness. And that means you get to choose what you want to do with your life, instead of life choosing for you. But having that power, the power to choose, can be a double-­edged sword. Because you can choose wrong.”

“How do you know if you’re choosing wrong?”
“You tell me. Do you think it’s better to fail at something worthwhile, or to succeed at something meaningless?”
Peter answered before he realized what he was saying. “To fail at something worthwhile.” The implications of his answer hit him like an elbow to the sternum.
Mr. McArthur laughed. “You look positively tragic!”
“Well, you’re saying I should stop doing the only thing I’ve ever been great at.”
“No. I’m not saying stop. I’m saying evaluate. I’m saying choose. You can ignore everything I said today if you want.”
“Can I?”
“I suppose that depends on what kind of man you want to be.”

He was imprisoned within his upbringing. Doomed.

she felt the inner twist of desire, or at least the desire to be desired

she’d lost the right to judge anyone for anything when she skipped town