"Writing wasn't easy for her. It wasn't like arithmetic, not like a column of numbers to be added or subtracted from the top of the blackboard to the bottom, neat and organized; or science, figuring out the why of things."

"I don't think he's touched a washcloth to his face since the day he was born."

"Everything stopped: forks half raised, a bowl being passed. It seemed that the man was bathed in red, great swaths of it across his shirt and hands. And then Thomas realized: he was covered in blood."

"And the boy was right in back of her, his neck thin as a pencil. "My name is Thomas," he said. "Thomas Neary." She didn't answer. "The horse's name is Alfred, in case you want to know." He screwed up his face. "Or maybe Fernando.""

"Bird. A good name for her. She wasn't a sparrow or a songbird, though. She stood so straight, and her face was strong."

"How quiet everything was this Sunday afternoon, how still. No horse and wagon clopped down the street, no cart; no one stood on the corner talking. It was as if they were the only ones in the world."

"Is there anyone noisier in the world than Bird Mallon?"

"How many times had she seen Annie sew in a sleeve, easing both sides so that they wouldn't pucker, taking a stitch, and smoothing out the fabric again? And now Mama was doing the same thing to someone's head. Someone's skin."

"What had it been like the first time Da tried to read the same page? She could almost see his finger under each word, the whisper of his voice as he sounded out the words to himself. How had he ever done that? It seemed impossible."

"With just the sweep of a pen, Thomas, you can change the world, all of it."

"If only she could have held on to that day, held on to that moment forever, grasped it in her fists so it wouldn't escape. If only."

"Thomas watched him for a few minutes. Pop was good-looking, muscular, and his hair was almost gold even though it was getting a little thin on top. Thomas must have taken after his mother, whoever she was."

"He wrote stories about everything he saw, and he saw a lot. He walked through the streets of Brooklyn along the water, or leaned against the store windows on Livingston Street watching people hurrying along, making up stories about this one or that one."

"But that was a realworld, and he didn't have to put it down on paper. He ripped the page out of the book, tore it into shreds, and threw them behind the tree, where they settled into the weeds."

"The girl's mouth was chapped, tight and pinched, her skin dry. Mama would say she looked woebegone, but as Bird looked at her eyes, the word she thought of was desperate."

""A new start," Pop said as they stopped at the corner and waited to cross over to where te horse and cart waited for them. "A new apartment, Thomas. A new life." A new world to write about."

"She didn't want to touch the baby. Didn't want to know if she was dead. But still she reached down, her arms underneath that small body, and pulled it up against her. The body was burning with fever. But alive. Alive!"

"What was the use of writing if someone didn't read what you have to say?"

"Oh ye! who all life's energies combine The fadeless laurel round your brows to twine, Pause but one moment in your brief career, Nor seek for glory in a mortal sphere."

"'I don't want to do any of those things you said. I want – I want – to make things right.' 'Then so you shall.' 'Is it so easy?' 'Not easy. Not easy at all. Think how much is wanting to make things wrong. All the fear in the world, and the violence that comes from the fear, and the hatred that comes from the violence, and the loneliness that comes from the hatred. All the unhappiness, all the cruelty, it gathers like clouds in the air, and grows dark and cold and heavy, and falls like grey snow in thick layers over the land. Then the world is all muffled and numb, and no one can hear each other or feel each other. Think how sad and lonely that must be."

"The English seem to think drinking wine is like committing adultery, something you do rarely and abroad."

"That's where we have to go," said Kestrel, looking at the mountain. "Into the fire."

"The song of the wind singer will set you free."

"She slapped Kestrel's face. Without thinking twice, Kestrel slapped her back, as hard as she could. The young woman burst into tears. The servant saw this, aghast. "Baby!" she exclaimed. "Oh, my poor baby!" "You've been kind to me," said Kestrel, "and you're very beautiful, but if you hit me again I'll kill you.""

"Today begins my walk with you." They spoke together, their voices sounding softly in the cold air. "Where you go, I go. Where you stay, I stay. When you sleep, I will sleep. When you rise, I will rise. I will pass my days within the sound of your voice, and my nights within the reach of your hand. And none shall come between us."

""I wish there were no more exams ever," said Kestrel. "I wish nothing bad happens to Kess," said Bowman. "I wish my darling children to be safe and happy for ever," said their mother. She always wished like that when she was worried. "I wish the wind singer would sing again," said their father."

"If everything you do is in order to do something else, when do you ever get to the end of it all?"

"We read to know that we are not alone."

"Experience is a brutal teacher, but you learn fast."

"Self-sufficiency is the enemy of salvation. If you are self-sufficient, you have no need of God. If you have no need of God, you do not seek Him. If you do not seek Him, you will not find Him."

"Brothers, what we do in life, echoes in eternity."

"I will win the crowd. I will give them something they have never seen before."

"She hasnt gone so far now, she had broken a lot of rules and said such rude things, that she knew she would suffer the most horrible punishment; and since what was done could not be undone, she was free to be as bad as she wanted to be."

"Now I'm really trying not to cry, but one of the best things, for all the kids who are watching tonight, who don't understand that Kurt Hummel is a character… they saw him win and that's great." -Chris Colfer, when asked about being a gay rights figure."

"Most importantly, to all the amazing kids that watch our show and the kids that our show celebrates, who are constantly told ‘no’ by the people in their environments, by bullies at school that they can’t be who they are or have what they want because of who they are. Well, screw that, kids.Globes Speech."

"I have my big-boy pants on right now. I'm trying not to cry!"

"I hate to say I'm a Cinderfella, but I've been watching the Globes since I was an embryo. I got a Facebook message from an elementary school friend who said, 'I remember you standing up and talking about attending the Golden Globes when we were little."

"“I think I just want to leave my mark in some way. I hope I leave the world a better place than it was when I came, and I think the best way I can do that is through acting and writing, and hopefully it will make a difference someday.” —Chris Colfer, How would you like to be remembered?"

"“A lot of people would say to me, “So Chris, you were bullied in high school and now you’re famous, so you've had a Cinderella story.” And I’d think, “What? Are you kidding?” Fame is not a solution. I’m a Cinderella story because I was in an unfortunate situation, and now I’m in a place where I get to do what I love.”"

""I was obsessed with fairytales, and I was a very, very inquisitive kid, and I would ask my mom all kinds of questions. It all kind of formed a story in my head, and I really wanted to be a published author when I was 10, but I had a hard time writing a novel when I was 10, so I decided to wait until I was little bit older and then get it done." -Chris Colfer on how he came up with the idea of TLOS"

"”I never really learned how to sing. I mean, I think I get most of my experience from just the shower, just annoying my parents to no end, singing loud, having grand encore concerts in the shower. But I’ve kind of been stuck with this high-pitched voice since forever, so I kind of learned how to use it to my advantage. And I can go very low, too. Not many people know that. I went low once on the show and no one believed it was me.”"

"“A voice that was never wanted has become a voice for so many people who don’t have one.” -Chris Colfer on becoming a voice for LGBT youth"

"“Whether I’m in front of the camera, behind the camera, at my computer writing a novel or a screenplay, as long as I get to entertain someone out there, I’m happy.”"

"“I feel like little bits of my soul are being shipped domestically.” -Chris Colfer on releasing his first book , Chris Colfer Shipping 'Bits Of My Soul' With His Novel"

"Note to self: While on the treadmill you may lip-sync to the songs on your iPod but DO NOT dance along. You look like an idiot."

"Every time I get injured I measure it's severity by asking myself 'Would this stop me from going to Disneyland?'"

"“Don’t listen to what people tell you because they’ll try to bring you down. And don’t listen to yourself, either, because yourself will try to bring you down even more so than anyone else. As long as you just put all your energy into one thing, it can happen.""

"There's nothing wrong with you. There's a lot wrong with the world you live in."

"“I was very different from most kids. I would stay home and write and put on shows when other people would go to the football game, and… I think I just put all that energy into wanting to get out of there and do something with my life.”"

"“My imaginary friends have become my imaginary children.” —Chris Colfer on his characters"