"Just remember something—your discomfort is your own issue and not theirs. You have the right to set boundaries. You do not have the right, however, to punish other people for your discomfort or to shame them for feeling bad about bad things. That’s not empowerment. That’s emotional abuse (95)."
“If you want to solve problems, you have to learn to recognize 'Quit bitching' for the social justice cop-out that it is. 'Think of the starving African children' is a statement uttered by people who are inspired to order a large cheese pizza from Dominos whenever they see Peace Corps commercials on television. They say, 'Think about others who are worse off' so you’ll go away and quit disturbing their Me-Time (167).
"Life is fairer when you get mugged" (167).
"This is because during DPN, you decided that deafness was enough. So long as you had that, checks and balances, term limits, and popular elections didn’t matter. So long as you had deafness, you could hand off a $500,000-dollar-a-year position (and instantaneous worldwide fame on top of it) and somehow still be forever protected from the realities of human nature. Well, we’re a young culture. And America learned. Someday we might, too" (176).
"...the most successful Deaf education programs are not necessarily the ones that focus upon the advancement of education. Rather, they are the ones most skilled at public relations" (184).
"...he was driven out of his mind because his parents were psychologically starving him—daily—for communication" (208).
"This is why I have little sympathy for nonsigning parents of deaf children who explain away their child’s behavioral outbursts with, 'Oh he’s just trying to get attention.' Well, duh!..." (210).
"I hold people accountable for the choices they make. Being a hearing parent isn’t a choice. Being a nonsigning one is" (220).
