If you’re quiet in the woods long enough, you’ll hear something die. Then it’s quiet again. There’s no outrage about injustice, or even mourning. One animal’s death is another’s dinner; that’s just the way it is. What remains will go to the earth, yesterday’s bones sinking into today’s dirt, the only bit of life left where a mouse nibbled, leaving tiny indentations that say there was once something of worth here.
-- Ashley ("Before I Was Lost")

Importance: When Ashley and her friends hike through the woods, she spots the skull of a deer and pauses to admire it. This quote is important because it reveals Ashley's fascination with nature.

We live in a place where geography can not only kill you, but also dictates your friends. I don’t like many people, and while Meredith has made the cut since kindergarten, it’s by a slim margin...
-- Ashley ("Before I Was Lost")