When someone has been mean to you, why would you want to be good to them?' 'You wouldn't want to. That's what makes it hard. You do it anyway. Being good is hard. Much harder than being bad.

A darkness different from Ember's, but just as frightening.

Now Doon seemed to care for his new friends more than he did for her. Every time she thought about him she felt a thud of pain, like a bruised place inside her.

What could be more interesting than thinking of mysterious happenings, finding the answers to intriguing questions, and making up new worlds?

I try to remind myself that we are never promised anything, and that what control we can exert is not over the events that befall us but how we address ourselves to them.

When someone has been mean to you, why would you want to be good to them?' 'You wouldn't want to. That's what makes it hard. You do it anyway. Being good is hard. Much harder than being bad.

What you need to learn, children, is the difference between right and wrong in every area of life. And once you learn the difference, you must always choose the right.