When they were introduced, he made a witticism, hoping to be liked. She laughed extremely hard, hoping to be liked.
-- Narrator (A Radically Condensed History of Postindustrial Life paragraph 1)

Importance: The opening words of the book establish the theme of men and women attempting to find intimacy in dating, but are frequently unable to get out of their own heads in order to do so.

Heh heh. So then what happened?""Heh heh.
-- A-- and R--. (Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (1) paragraph 1-2)

Importance: At the end of Brief Interview #3, R-- implies that he slept with the woman who he accidentally met at the airport without ever explicitly saying so. This provides a good barometer that sex is almost always on the minds of the "Hideous Men" who are being interviewed.

The depressed person was in terrible and unceasing emotional pain, and the impossibility of sharing or articulating this pain was itself a component of the pain and a contributing factor in its essential horror.
-- Narrator (The Depressed Person paragraph 1)

Importance: Throughout "The Depressed Person," we see...