"His dad's eyes were getting darker. 'How bad is it really?' Very bad. Too many fronts to fight. Bur for starters... 'That big storm out east?' Jordan and Rook had gone to investigate... 'That's the Sandman in the waking world.' His dad frowned deeply. He shook his head and shrugged. 'I don't know what that means.' Yeah, well... 'Neither do we."

"They said there was no rest for the wicked. In fact, there was rest neither for the virtuous nor the wicked, nor for guys like Billy, who were uncommitted regarding the whole idea of virtue versus wickedness and who were just trying to do their jobs."

"As I wrote, I found that Aibileen had some things to say that really weren't in her character. She was older, soft-spoken, and she started showing some attitude."

"You think you know what you want and how it's all supposed to turn out. When all is said and done, you get what you need. You know in the end that what you need is what you really wanted all along."

"When I came home, I was asked to put my pictures in a photo exhibit at the Cinematography College ... My pictures won first prize. I began to ask myself what I was doing, and why. A few months after the exhibit, I dropped out of college, left my wife and began to write this book."