Well-read people are less likely to be evil.

Like a lot of people whose children were small in the 2000s, I read [Daniel Handler] books out loud and I loved them.

...everyone was right about you- prove them wrong.

The worst surroundings in the world can be tolerated if the people in them are interesting and kind.

Criminals should be punished, not fed pastries.

What happens in a certain place can stain your feelings for that location, just as ink can stain a white sheet. You can wash it, and wash it, and still never forget what has transpired - a word which here means 'happened, and made everybody sad'.

With the publishing of The Basic Eight, it was often assumed that I was really immature and callow, and with the publishing of Watch Your Mouth, it was assumed that I was oversexualized, and with Lemony Snicket, it's often assumed that I'm erudite and depressed. But all the voices more or less came naturally to me.