Mama used to say, you have to know someone a thousand days before you can glimpse her soul.

Courage is not fearlessness.

Clearly she was expected to say something, but panic at having to speak stole the thoughts from her head.

I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.

I know I would crumble if I lost you.

Razo hopped back up and adopted a posture that said he was completely unruffled, never had been, and in fact was ready to do something manly like lift boulders or swallow live worms.

Reading a book is like going on a great journey. You don’t know what’ll happen, but something is bound to change. And for me, that change has always been good.

Later, when they would spend straight hours conversing in the dark, Jane would realize that Henry kissed the way he talked- his entire attention taut, focused, intensely hers.

Look no farther than your hand,Make a choice and take a stand.

Jane Austen had created six heroines, each quite different, and that gave Charlotte courage. There wasn’t just one kind of woman to be.

Throwing herself into learning helped Miri ignore the painful chill of solitude around her.

To be powerful, a kiss should make a journey, be its own story–begin with hesitation, move to realization, then melt into bliss.

He smiled in a way that made me want to kiss him right on the spot. Or the lips. Whichever was closer.

I was thinking how you can’t tell if a person’s beautiful or not by her shadow…

Hey, times are tough, and thirty gold coins can do a lot of good. But I guess you wouldn’t know about needing money, since you grew up like a little princ…”(Rapunzel glares)”Prin… soner. I mean,...

There you go…let it all slide out. Unhappiness can’t stick in a person’s soul when it’s slick with tears.

Miri took genuine comfort in studying Mathematics that day. She could sort numbers into two simple ideas: true and not true. Unlike numbers, words were rarely just one thing. They moved and changed, camouflaging and...

The point of education is to learn other ways too. Don’t just assume that all you know is right. Learn more and then chose.

… If we don’t tell strange stories, when something strange happens we won’t believe it.

What are you doing?” “Ya!” said Jane, whirling around, her hands held up menacingly. It was Mr. Nobley with coat, hat, and cane, watching her with wide eyes. Jane took several quick (but oh so...

Even the jerks earn some of our affection. We can be glad they’re gone and yet still mourn the good parts.

..giving into despair was like eating poisonous berries to keep from feeling hungry.

I’m a terrible prince. I should put my kingdom first and everything else second, but your first. I want you by my side every second, but I know I would crumble if I lost you.

That year, when the trees burned the fire of late summer into their leaves and the ground mist was a ghost of the river, long and wet and cold, the aunt looked from her windows...

I let my head fall back, and I gazed into the Eternal Blue Sky. It was morning. Some of the sky was yellow, some the softest blue. One small cloud scuttled along. Strange how everything...

The first building she reached appeared to be an old barn. Only one young guard stood before its bolted door, staring at her with wide eyes, holding up his sword in defense, She heated his...

I’m not bossy – I just happen to be more capable than most everyone else.

It’s good to cry a bit, ’cause that helps us get through the rough parts. And the winter is though, there’s no doubt. But we just hang on until spring when that ache will be...

Most people are genuinely good, sweetheart, and even the evil ones have some good in them. -Shannon Hale

I wonder if everyone who faces death hurts like this. It’s as though for the first time I realize how much just being alive makes my body ache. But I don’t want that ache to...

He had a dashing smile. It nearly dashed right off his face.

When you get tired of worrying and mourning your horse and trying not to be afraid, tell me and I’ll do it for you a while so you can shut your eyes and sleep peaceful.

The woman gestured to a seat and put on a patient face. An impatient sort of patient face, like an impatient face dressing up as a patient one for Halloween.

I’m Razo, a member of Bayern’s Own,” he said, stopping himself from adding “Loafing is just a hobby of mine.””Bayern’s Own? But you’re a child.” Razo looked up to the sky. “I’m not a child,...

I was sorry to lose it, and if you make me another one, I promise not to get taken captive by bandits and have to use it to save my life.

Charlotte wondered if she would have recognized the crazy much earlier if he looked more like Steve Buscemi then Mr. Medieval Hotness.

Sometimes my fancy gets to floating inside me, threatening to carry me away like a leaf on a wind. Better to be a stone.

Don’t beat yourself up,” said Charlotte. “True love can be so easily mistaken for other things-friendship, humane concern, indigestion…

You are my butterfly and refuse to set you free.

My friends call me by my name.””You don’t have any friends.””I don’t want you to be my friend, Selia, or my servant, not now. I thought you were both. You have let me know I...

Isi, I’m trying to say that you’ve been… no, you’re so, you’re–” He stopped.”You are,” he said. His hand found hers, and he held her finger tightly, as though he did not dare to do...

Seriously, a thirty-something woman shouldn’t be daydreaming about a fictional character in a two-hundred-year-old world to the point where it interfered with her very real and much more important life and relationships. Of course she...

…first thing is that I love you. And the second thing is that as much as I honor your former profession, I don’t think your geese care much for your betrothed and I hope they...

In movies, we are accustomed to seeing handsome actors. It’s so commonplace on the screen, large or small, that we barely note it as extraordinary. But in life, rarely do we encounter an onslaught of...

If we’re mad, we’re mad in large numbers, at least larger than yours.

They weren’t nice words he said. He could’ve lived a good life and died never having made a person feel rubbed down to bones and too sad to hold together.

You’re better than seven years of food. You’re better than windows. You’re even better than the sky.

And Isi always listened, never told Enna she had been foolish, never said hollow things like ‘You’ll be all right.’ . . . Isi saw Enna’s struggle and her sadness, and she understood.

But, how do you know if an ending is truly good for the characters unless you’ve traveled with them through every page?

I keep thinking about a tale my nurse used to read to me about a bird whose wings are pinned to the ground. In the end, when he finally frees himself, he flies so high...