I accepted all the attention at face value and proceeded through life as if I really were extraordinary.

To me, bossy is not a pejorative term at all. It means somebody's passionate and engaged and ambitious and doesn't mind leading.

People, I have discovered, are layers and layers of secrets. You believe you know them, that you understand them, but their motives are always hidden from you, buried in their own hearts. You will never know them, but sometimes you will decide to trust them.

Do you know what morals are, Violet? They're other people's rules. Do you know what a conscience is? Freedom to use your own intelligence to decide what is right or wrong...Whenever others disapprove of you, you must disregard them and be the only one to judge your own decisions and actions.