The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

by Sherman Alexie

And what’s more, our white dentist believed that Indians only felt half as much pain as white people did, so he only gave us half the Novocain.

I draw because words are too unpredictable. I draw because words are too limited.

Oscar was only an adopted stray mutt, but he was the only living thing that I could depend on.

And for some reason I don’t understand, lonely white people love to hang around lonelier Indians.

White girls are privileged. They’re damsels in distress.”

“Well, life is a constant struggle between being an individual and being a member of the community.”

I am still looking for a job. They keep telling me I don’t have enough experience. But how can I get enough experience if they don’t give me a chance to get experience?

I don’t know why I said it was okay. For some reason, I was protecting the feelings of the man who had broken my heart yet again.

When anybody, no matter how old they are, loses a parent, I think it hurts the same as if you were only five years

Do you know how many white strangers show up on Indian reservations every year and start telling Indians how much they love them? Thousands. It’s sickening. And boring.