The children of this world and the adults of this world are in entirely separate boats and only drift near each other when we need a ride from someone or when someone needs us to wash our hands.

It is much, much worse to receive bad news through the written word than by somebody simply telling you, and I’m sure you understand why. When somebody simply tells you bad news, you hear it once, and that’s the end of it. But when bad news is written down, whether in a letter or a newspaper or on your arm in felt tip pen, each time you read it, you feel as if you are receiving the bad news again and again.

When you start reading nonfiction books about piracy, you realize that it's actually just a history of desperate people.

The way sadness works is one of the strangest riddles of the world.

That night was a dark day. Of course, all nights are dark days, because night is simply a badly lit version of day.

There are few sights sadder than a ruined book.

It is terribly rude to tell people that their troubles are boring.