Forks are absurd, he scoffed. They insult your food. They make it think you're killing it twice.

Kate felt very offended. 'I am not an elf,' she insisted. 'I'm an Englishwoman!

For how many generations now had his people been turning their backs on things? How long had they sat in their living rooms and watched other people die?

Lively, intelligent, and quite immature, [Emily] usually burst out with exactly the comment that summed up the situation beautifully and therefore could never in politeness be said.

Em, I am trying to have an important conversation!" shouted Seylin. "I will not change into a cat!

Kate had never in her life seen such frightful deformities, and the goblins had never seen such a hideous dress.

Being a writer means crying over the sad parts, even though you already know it’s going to be okay.

Don't fret. We'll just have to find something else you're good at besides killing people.

Mom actually said that?" Cassie's face shown with happiness. "She always hated my math!

I am self-educated from genre books.

A little care and a dash of creativity can transform the simplest items into great expressions of love.

I struggled to think pure thoughts, as Hector sucked out my psyche with his eyes.

Don't be afraid to fail. Anything that I've ever attempted I was always willing to fail. You can't always win, but don't be afraid of making decisions.

I don't worry about the things I can't change.

Pain makes hens and poets cackle.

I used to be really snobby about music. I'm not as snobby as I used to be, though. I have this great bit about not getting mad about music anymore. It just happens when you get older.

Being rich ain't what it's cracked up to be. It's just worry and worry, and sweat and sweat, and a-wishing you was dead all the time.

Rumpty!" he muttered, which was very rude if you were one of the few people in the universe who understood what it meant.

It scares me when the Europeans demand more and more democracy. It sounds like times past, when people here demanded more and more socialism.