One of the things I strive for is realism. I need to be as real as possible in the dilemmas my characters face.

Your life might be easier if you were. A fool for love is happier than a Dog with a heart that's all leather.

Don't call me 'gentleman'. I work for a livin'.

Waves are the voices of tides. Tides are life," murmured Niko. "They bring new food for shore creatures, and take ships out to sea. They are the ocean's pulse, and our own heartbeat.

Men don't think and differently from women - they just make more noise about being able to.

Tris: "I was reading." Sandry: "You're always reading. The only way people can ever talk to you is to interrupt." Tris: "Then maybe they shouldn't talk to me.

Why do you look like cheese, Beka?" Nestor asked me quietly. "We've got help." I was too flummoxed to tell him I hadn't expected help to come so fast. Miracles aren't for the likes of me, didn't Nestor know that? Only the nobility gets them.