"mr. empire falls? that's me. last one to leave, turn out the lights, right? this town is me, and i'm it. i'm not one of those that left and came back. i been here all along...thing is, miles, people in this town like you...but here's something that might surprise you. people like me too. something else? i got friends. might surprise you to hear we even got some of the same friends. you're not the only one people like, okay? and i'll tell you something else. what people around here like best about me? they like it that they're more like me than they are like you. they look at me and they see the town they grew up in. they see their first girlfriend. they see the first high school football game they ever went to. you know what they see when they look at you? that they ain't good enough. they look at you and see everything they ever done wrong in their lives. they hear you talk and maybe they're thinking the same thing you are, except they can't say it like you do and they know they won't ever get any credit. they see you and your buddy the principal with your heads together, deciding how things are gonna be, talking the way you talk and making your little jokes, and they know they'll never get no place with either one of you, not ever. but me? maybe they just might get someplace with me, and that's why they like me."
--richard russo, empire falls, pp. 294-95.