The story of the Baudelaires takes place in a very real world, where some people are laughed at just because they have something wrong with them, and where children can find themselves all alone in the world, struggling to understand the mystery that surrounds them.

What happens in a certain place can stain your feelings for that location, just as ink can stain a white sheet.

The moral of Snow White is never eat apples.

Do the scary thing first, and get scared later.

13. 99 percent is a very large percentage. For instance, easily 99 percent of people want a roof over their heads, food on their tables, and the occasional slice of cake for dessert. Surely an arrangement can be made with that niggling 1 percent who disagree.

Sometime during your life—in fact, very soon—you may find yourself reading a book, and you may notice that a book’s first sentence can often tell you what sort of story your book contains.

Temper tantrums, however fun they may be to throw, rarely solve whatever problem is causing them.