I preferred to read than talk with the others.

If I believed everything everyone had ever told me about my family I'd be a sight more miserable than I am now

People speak of the fear of the blank canvas as though it is a temporary hesitation, a trembling moment of self-doubt. For me it was more like being abducted from my bed by a clown, thrust into a circus arena with a wicker chair, and told to tame a pissed-off lion in front of an expectant crowd.

Cruel birds, ravens, but wise. And creatures should be loved for their wisdom if they cannot be loved for kindness.

...dreadful birds, dressed in red with breasts of silver buttons, and cocked heads and sharp mouths, looking for guilt like berries on a bush.

It’s not fair. People claim to know you through the things you’ve done, and not by sitting down and listening to you speak for yourself.

To know what a person has done, and to know who a person is, are very different things.