It rained toads the day the White Council came to town.

There are bad things in the world. There's no getting away from that. But that doesn't mean nothing can be done about them. You can't abandon life just because it's scary, and just because sometimes you get hurt.

Have you ever felt despair? Absolute hopelessness? Have you ever stood in the darkness and known, deep in your heart, in your spirit, that it was never, ever going to get better? That something had been lost, forever, and that it wasn't coming back?

Courage is about learning how to function despite the fear, to put aside your instincts to run or give in completely to the anger born from fear. Courage is about using your brain and your heart when every cell of your body is screaming at your to fight or flee - and then following through on what you believe is the right thing to do.

My friend is going to save a little girl from monsters. I am going with him. That's what friends do.

At the moment I was mad enough to chew up nails and spit out paper clips.

Got to die of something," Giraldi observed. "Might as well put back a few pints while you wait to see what it is.