“They needed to grieve alone was what Tibby's dad said. Lena wondered if really there was any choice in that. Everyone grieved alone.”

“For man is essentially alone, and one should pity him and love him and grieve with him.”

“In losing a friend, she is reminded of all she has lost and all she stands to lose again. There is nothing to be done to make it any easier.We all grieve alone.”

“As Luke knelt down beside his corpse, Clary couldn’t help but remember what he had said about having loved Valentine once, about having been his closest friend. Luke, she thought with a pang. Surely he couldn’t be sad — or even grieved?But then again, perhaps everyone should have someone to grieve for them, and there was no one else to grieve for Valentine.”

“As much as we like to think we grieve for others, she said, it bears keeping in mind that we are also grieving for ourselves and, above all, what has inevitably passed us by.”

“To ponder is not to brood or grieve or even meditate. It is to wonder at a deep level.”