They're all cruel,' he said. 'The world I come from, the world you come from, and this one, too. Maybe the people don't see the cruelty in your world right away, it's better hidden, but it's there all the same.

It's a cruel world, don't you think?

Every reader knows about the feeling that characters in books seem more real than real people.

Sometimes, when you’re sad you don’t know what to do, it helps to be angry. But then the tears come back again all the same, and you fall asleep with the salty taste of them on your lips.

Books are like flypaper, memories cling to the printed pages better than anything else.

What are stories for if we don't learn from them?

My dear Elinor, you were obviously born into the wrong story,” said Dustfinger at last.