What are you afraid of? I'm afraid of not recognizing Paradise.

To be silent. In hopes of not offending, in hopes of being accepted. But what happened to people who never spoke, never raised their voices? Kept everything inside? Gamache knew what happened. Everything they swallowed, every word, thought, feeling rattled around inside, hollowing the person out. And into that chasm they stuffed their words, their rage.

We're all blessed and we're all blighted, Chief Inspector," said Finney. "Everyday each of us does our sums. The question is, what do we count?

But you want murderous feelings? Hang around librarians," confided Gamache. "All that silence. Gives them ideas.

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

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.

It's a shame that creativity and sloth look exactly the same.