We measure the value of a civilized society by the number of #‎ libraries it opens, not the number it closes down.

She was riding a bear! And the Aurora was swaying above them in golden arcs and loops, and all around was the bitter Arctic cold and the immense silence of the North.

Life is hard . . . but we cling to it all the same

Even if it means oblivion, friends, I'll welcome it, because it won't be nothing. We'll be alive again in a thousand blades of grass, and a million leaves; we'll be falling in the raindrops and blowing in the fresh breeze; we'll be glittering in the dew under the stars and the moon out there in the physical world, which is our true home and always was.

She longed for cutlasses, pistols, and brandy; she had to make do with coffee, and pencils, and verbs.

Then she was pressing her little proud broken self against his face, as close as she could get, and then they died.

And barely ten minutes later the soft sound of wingbeats came to their ears, and Balthamos stood up eagerly. The next moment, the two angels were embracing, and Will, gazing into the flames, saw their mutual affection. More than affection: they loved each other with a passion.