“How fast the ears learned to tell what sounds meant, much faster than it took the eyes to decipher written words.”

“It was my kind of song: fast and fun and exuberant,the lyrics tumbling out almost faster than my ears could follow them,some times rhyming,sometimes not. . .”

“You know how teachers tell you the magic word is 'please'? That's not true. The magic word is 'puke'. It will get you out of class faster than anything else.”

“In such businessAction is eloquence, and the eyes of th’ ignorantMore learned than the ears.”

“He took her in his arms right away. "I'm so sorry," he murmured in her ear. He rocked her, saying it over and over.But no matter how many times he said it, no matter how much she knew he meant it, the words stirred around in her ear but didn't get into her brain. Sometimes he could comfort her. Sometimes he said what she needed, but today he couldn't reach her. Nothing could.”

“At last,' Padma says with satisfaction, 'you've learned how to tell things really fast.”