- Ellie: In the amazing book Moby Dick by the author Herman Melville, the author recounts his story of being at sea. In the first part of his book, the author, calling himself Ishmael, is in a small sea-side town and he is sharing a bed with a man named Queequeg, and I felt saddest of all when I read the boring chapters that were only descriptions of whales, because I knew that the author was just trying to save us from his own sad story, just for a little while."
- Charlie: These assignments--they don't matter. This course doesn't matter. College doesn't matter. These amazing, honest things you wrote--they matter.
- Ellie: What I like about religion is that it assumes that everyone is an idiot and that we're all incapable of saving ourselves. I think they've got something right with that. What I don't like about religion is that when people accept Jesus or whatever, they suddenly think they're better than everyone else. By accepting the fact that they're stupid sinners, somehow they've become better and they turn into assholes.
- Charlie: I'm sorry you had to come over, Liz.
- Liz: No, it's okay.
- Charlie: I'm sorry I always thinking I'm dying.
- Liz: Charlie, your blood pressure is 238 over 134.
- Charlie: I'm sorry.
- Liz: Go to the hospital.
- Charlie: I'm sorry.
- Liz: Stop saying you're sorry. Go the hospital. You have congestive heart failure. If you don't go to the hospital, you'll be dead by the weekend.
- [sternly]
- Liz: You will die.
- Charlie: You don't like school?
- Ellie: Only idiots like high school.
- Charlie: But you're on track to graduate, right?
- Ellie: Counselor says I might not. I'm not worried. I'm a smart person. I never forget anything. High school is just bullshit.
- Charlie: But, Ellie, it's important. If you don't graduate, then...
- Ellie: Are you actually trying to parent me right now?
- Charlie: No, I'm... Sorry. I just... I just thought that maybe we could spend some time with each other.
- Ellie: I'm not spending time with you. You're disgusting.
- Charlie: Well, I'm a lot bigger than I was since last time you saw me.
- Ellie: No, I'm not talking about what you look like. You'd be disgusting even if you weren't this fat. You'd still be that piece-of-shit dad who walked out on me when I was eight. All because he wanted to fuck one of his students.
- Liz: You must be from New Life. You know Doug, from the church council?
- Thomas: Yeah, I think so? I'm not entirely sure. I'm sort of new here, so...
- Liz: He's my dad. Doug and Cindy adopted me when I was a baby.
- Thomas: Oh, that's great. I've never seen you there before, but, again I'm sort of new, so...
- Liz: Fucking hate New Life.
- Thomas: Oh.
- Liz: My dad forced me to go when I was a kid. It was awful, growing up with all that "end times" bullshit. You're young. Why the hell would you want to believe that the world is ending?
- Thomas: I believe that when Christ returns, it's gonna be beautiful.
- Ellie: [heads for the door] I don't even know why I'm here.
- Charlie: I can pay you.
- Ellie: You want to pay me to spend time with you?
- Charlie: And I can help you with your work. It's what I do for my job. I can help you pass your class.
- Ellie: You teach online?
- Charlie: Yes.
- Ellie: Your students know what you look like?
- Charlie: I keep the camera shut off.
- Ellie: Yeah, that's probably a good idea.
- Charlie: Is that why you kept her from me all this time? Because you thought that I would think that you're a bad mother?