"Y'know, John Ellis thinks he's so 'out there' with that stupid Mayhem Magazine of his, but really he's just interested in the same shit the rest of America is interested in!" Chap. 1, Ghost World, p. 14

"That's okay—I don't want him to buy any of my sacred artifacts, anyway...I can't bear the thought of some jerk with a trendy haircut buying 'Goofie Gus'!" Chap. 2, Garage Sale, p. 15

"The trouble is the kind of guy I want to go out with doesn't even exist...like a rugged, chain-smoking, intellectual, adventurer guy who's really serious, but also really funny and mean..." Chap. 3, Punk Day, p. 31

"Once I got outside I started to feel really weird...Everybody was checking me out...I kept imagining Becky's reaction to everything. Especially The Jeffersons." Chap. 4, The First Time, p. 37

"I suppose I endorse policies that are opposed to stupidity and violence...cruelty...