- Stanley Hyman: [about Paula] She's a nothing... Who is she to you?
- Shirley Jackson: There are dozens and dozens of girls like this littering campuses across the country. Lonely girls who cannot make the world see them... Do not tell me I do not know this girl... Don't you dare!
- Shirley Jackson: [about her husband] Well, he is an expert at finding a willing pair of legs to open wide.