“You're blindly following a tradition that says because women didn't leave behind voluminous records of their thoughts and deeds, then they didn't have any thoughts and deeds - they were just standing on the sidelines while history was made by men. Just because a woman didn't have a vote doesn't mean that she didn't have an informed opinion. It doesn't mean she was incapable of thinking or acting.”

“...she said that life was too precious to cast away; that even the foulest and meanest expression of life was precious, full of grandeur and inestimable beauty, although we are often too blind to recognize it.”

“Although she was a logical, practical person, she believed that in books there existed a kind of magic. Between the aging covers on these shelves, contained in tiny, abstract black marks on sheets of paper, were voices from the past. Voices that reached into the future, into Claire's own heart and mind, to tell her what they knew, what they'd learned, what they'd seen, what they'd felt. Wasn't that magic?”

“Just because you have information, doesn't mean you're informed.”

“Just because she's dead it doesn't mean I stopped loving her or that she stopped loving me. It's just her body that left. The love didn't.—Jenna Richards”

“Have you ever loved anyone?""You mean besides my mum?"Luke was dumbfounded as he stared at Jack. He knew his friend's story. "She sold you when you were five."Jack shrugged. "Doesn't mean I didn't love her. Just means she didn't love me.”

“... just because [butterflies'] lives were short didn't mean they were tragic... See, they have a beautiful life.”