There are two kinds of suffering in this life. That which pursues us and that which we doggedly pursue.

It's a shame that humans don't come with reset buttons.

. . .and every native has a story of winter – stories that usually begin, You call this a storm? And grow in the telling like battle tales shared by graying war veterans. It’s a peculiar character flaw to those of us from cold climates that we feel superior to those who have the sense to live elsewhere.

Joy isn't the natural response to blessings - joy is what comes from acknowledging them.

We cannot enslave others without enslaving a part of ourselves.

I have learned a great truth of life. We do not succeed in spite of our challenges and difficulties, but rather, precisely because of them.

So much of young adult literature has turned dark, almost pathological. It's almost as if there is a race to see who can be the most dysfunctional.