He tried to listen to the conversations going on at the table and he found that he could no longer concentrate on what anyone was saying and which was worse that he was not interested in any of what he was able to hear.

When you dream, sometimes you remember. When you wake, you always forget.

I was a reader. I loved reading. Reading things gave me pleasure. I was very good at most subjects in school, not because I had any particular aptitude in them, but because normally on the first day of school they'd hand out schoolbooks, and I'd read them--which would mean that I'd know what was coming up, because I'd read it.

Books are defensive, not offensive (unless you're the puzzled adult trying to make the kid with the book interact).

You play your cards so close to your chest," said Shadow, "that I'm not even sure they're really cards at all.

Remember: that giants sleep too soundly; that witches are often betrayed by their appetites; dragons have one soft spot, somewhere, always; hearts can be well-hidden, and you can betray them with your tongue. (from "Instructions")

The world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before.