This is an absurd moral, for you and I both know that sometimes not only is it good to lie, it is necessary to lie.

This toast feels raw. Is it safe to eat raw toast?

Once more, this is love: it rings and you open up unless it looks like an ax murderer.

For some stories, it's easy. The moral of 'The Three Bears,' for instance, is "Never break into someone else's house.' The moral of 'Snow White' is 'Never eat apples.' The moral of World War I is 'Never assassinate Archduke Ferdinand.

You may be right,' she said, a phrase which here meant 'I’m wrong, but I don’t have the courage to say so.

Anyone who knew Violet well could tell she was thinking hard, because her long hair was tied up in a ribbon to keep it out of her eyes. Violet had a real knack for inventing and building strange devices, so her brain was often filled with images of pulleys, levers, and gears, and she never wanted to be distracted by something as trivial as her hair.

Arguing with somebody is never pleasant, but sometimes it is useful and necessary to do so.