13 Quotes by J.D. Vance

Your sister is the only true friend you'll ever have.

He finished his food quickly and then nervously looked from person to person. I could tell that he wanted to ask a question, so I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and asked if he needed anything. 'Yeah,' he started, refusing to make eye contact. And then, almost in a whisper: 'I wonder if I could get a few more french fries.' He was hungry – in 2014, in the richest country on Earth. He wanted a little extra to eat, but felt uncomfortable asking.

As I increasingly saw Mom's behavior in myself, I tried to understand her.

There is nothing lower than the poor stealing from the poor. It's hard enough as it is. We sure as hell don't need to make it even harder on each other.

But yeah, like everyone else in our family, they could go from zero to murderous in a fucking heartbeat.

For kids like me, the part of the brain that deals with stress and conflict is always activated...We are constantly ready to fight or flee, because there is a constant exposure to the bear, whether that bear is an alcoholic dad or an unhinged mom (p228)....I see conflict and I run away or prepare for battle. (p246)

...Mom equated money with affection...but I never cared about the money. I just wanted her to be healthy.

...intricate stone carvings and wood trim gave the law school an almost medieval feel. You'd even sometimes hear that we went to HLS (Hogwarts Law School).

We can easily create a welfare state that accepts the fact of a permanent American underclass, one where family dysfunction, childhood trauma, cultural segregation, and hopelessness coexist with some basic measure of subsistence. Or we can do something considerably more difficult: reject the notion of a permanent American underclass.