Her heart ached as though a knife had quietly slipped between her ribs.

I believe we have an utterly unique specimen on our hands: a child who listens.

She did not want to read this book from start to finish, or rather, she thought perhaps it did not want her to. Instead she practiced the art of bibliomancy, trusting the book to show her what it wanted her to know.

I savor bitterness - it is born of experience. It is the privilege of one who has truly lived.

Oh, quit that. Blushing is for virgins and Christians.

For there are two kinds of forgiveness in the world: the one you practice because everything really is all right, and what went before is mended. The other kind of forgiveness you practice because someone needs desperately to be forgiven, or because you need just as badly to forgive them, for a heart can grab hold of old wounds and go sour as milk over them.

Temperament, you'll find, is highly dependent on time of day, weather, frequency of naps, and whether one has had enough to eat.