How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Paul and me had been best friends since we shared a playpen—our dads had been best friends for like five years before we were born. We were like two pieces of the same guy; I got the muscles and the common sense, he got the talent and the face. I told Paul that once, and like right then, not even a second for breath, he said, "How do you know we're not two parts of the same ugly, puny, untalented dork?" (1.38)
Paul and Karl's bizarre, lifelong friendship is a huge part of the book, both in showing how they deal with their mutual family problems and how their relationship changes as time passes and social politics invade their bond. Since all of this stuff fails to mess up their friendship (at least permanently), maybe they really are part of the same dork.
Quote #2
I smiled back for all I was worth. I couldn't stand to think how lonely the guy was feeling. Christ, if that wasn't a lesson—lose your rabbit and other kids swarm all over you, lose your mom and you're invisible—what a thing to know about your friends. I wanted to be a friend for him worse than I'd ever wanted anything. (4.61)
This is a pretty weird way to be feeling about a kid whose pet bunny you just whacked Godfather-style, but it's obvious that Karl learns an important lesson from the Squid Cabrillo affair. Mainly, the losses of his dad and Squid's mom make them both understand how valuable friendship is, especially in crisis and loss.
Quote #3
"Karl, when you get old, the only thing you got left is your friends. Rose'n'me's the only people that remember some of that stuff we were joking about. Once there's only one of us, which praise the Lord if he's willing won't be for a long time yet, it'll be like all that stuff never happened […] So if you don't do anything else, you have to stick up for your friends." (10.77)
Mr. Browning might be kind of a pervert, but boy does he speak the truth here. Little does he know that he's not just spouting sentimental advice—he's speaking directly to Karl's bind over whether or not to leave the Madmen. To him, Mr. Browning is really giving him a warning: he can go his own way and die alone, or hang onto his friends with all he's got.