You are so obtuse!" Brontë says, exasperated. I am calm in my response. "Do you mean stupid, or angular? You need to be more specific with your insults.

No," says Ariana. "It was a dream. Reality got in the way, that's all.

Your hair looks funny," Lief said, as soon as the Ugloids left. "It stands straight up!" No," said Nick, intensely irritated, "It's hanging straight down." Lief just gave him an upside-down shrug. "Up is down in China and you're part-Chinese.

All this time, Lev ever realized what he needed. He did not need to be adored or pitied. He needed to be forgiven. Not by God, who is all forgiving. Not by people like Marcus and Pastor Dan, who would always stand by his side. He needed to be forgiven by an unforgiving world.

We'll never be ready. So I guess that means we're as ready as we'll ever be.

Cowards hide [...] but warriors lie and wait [...] the only difference is whether you're motivated by fear or purpose.

The measure of a man is not how much he suffers in the test, but how he comes out at the end.