In winter the very ground seemed to reach up and grab the elderly, yanking them to earth as though hungry for them.

Life is change. If you aren't growing and evolving, you're standing still, and the rest of the world is surging ahead.

How much more courage it took to be kind than to be cruel.

Her voice was slightly accented but her French was perfect. Someone who'd not just learned the language but loved it. And it showed with every syllable. Gamache knew it was impossible to split language from culture. That without one the other withered. To love the language was to respect the culture.

I've seen enough successful writers who no longer seem to care when they are recognized with an award, and I think that's just tragic.

It is very, very dangerous to come between a person and their beliefs.

I had to learn compassion. Had to learn what it felt like to hate, and to forgive and to love and be loved. And to lose people close to me. Had to feel deep loneliness and sorrow. And then I could write.