"My mother and father stressed education and always made sure we had a place to study and books to read."

“If I had a spreadsheet on my computer, it looked like I was busy.”

“I was encouraged to read aloud in class and vocalize.”

“When someone's really sick and their family is tired and concerned about what will take place, those are the times that they need a support group around them to take care of them as a human being.”

Source : "A Conversation with Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman Yee". Interview with Rachel P. Goldstein, www.marandapleasantmedia.com.

“Harmony has always come very natural to us because we started singing harmony at an early age. We heard a lot of different music growing up.”

“Panic is a horrible thing.”

“Men aren't allowed to have self-esteem, because we're already supposed to have all the power.... But most men earn less than they want, barely the minimum wage. They're drones. They do stuff they don't want to do to support their families, and they're not sure why they do it. They don't know what they're doing half the time, and any time we stick up for ourselves, we're pigs because we don't know how to articulate our frustrations and joys.”

“I like to try to hit all of my dives.”

“Suicide is not something I owe you or yours.”

Source : Paolo Bacigalupi (2012). “The Drowned Cities: Number 2 in series”, p.88, Hachette UK