The problem with growing up is that once you're grown up, the people who aren't grown up aren't fun anymore.

In a way fighting was just like using magic. You said the words, and they altered the universe. By merely speaking you could create damage and pain, cause tears to fall, drive people away, make yourself feel better, make your life worse.

Stop looking for the next secret door that is going to lead you to your real life. Stop waiting. This is it: there's nothing else.

The danger would be going back, or staying still. The only way out was through. The past was ruins, but the present was still in play.

It was strange to be naked in front of anybody. It was like that cold water out there in the bay: scary, you didn’t think you could stand it, but then you plunged in and pretty soon you got used to it. There was enough hiding in life. Sometimes you just wanted to show somebody your tits.

The real world is horrible.

The life I should be living had been mislaid through some clerical error by the cosmic bureaucracy.