There's a certain relief in knowing that I am a terminus.”
-- Bechdel (chapter 1)

Importance: Bechdel is musing about the fact that she is the end of her family's line. The end of the bad, and of some of the good things, about her family's legacy.

The thing is, I can't write this book until I get her out of my head. But the only way to get her out of my head is by writing the book.”
-- Bechdel (chapter 1)

Importance: This quote is significant because it clearly illustrates Bechdel's conundrum with writing, and explains why she's been experiencing writer's block for so long.

But I am not ultimately interested in writing fiction. I can't make things up. Or rather, I can only make things up about things that have already happened.”
-- Bechdel (chapter 1)

Importance: This illustrates Bechdel's aversion to looking realistically at her own history, and facing the truth of who she really is, and wants to be.

Writers...
-- Bechdel (chapter 2)