“But really, there are no coincidences. Coincidences are just other people's choices, plans you don't know about.”

“My dad always says, some people will treat you badly and you can't help that. But how you handle it and how it makes you feel, that's up to you.”

“...she could see it now, what her father loved about Shakespeare, about that entire, mysterious time, with its pomp and majesty, secrets and betrayals.”

“That's the real mystery, isn't it? Not whether he was a common merchant or the queen's son, but how he could understand so much about human nature. And write about it in a way that still rings true, all these years later.' ". . . " 'That's Shakespeare's secret. . .”

“That was the very heart of friendship...your willingness to help each other in a jam, to take a friend's problems as your very own.”

“My mom says that when it rains you never feel like you should be anywhere but home.”

“He HAD seen the world. It had been scary at times, but also exhilarating. Who could have imagined it would be such a complicated, interesting place?...When you saw different parts of the world, you saw different parts of yourself. And when you stayed home, where it was safe, those parts of yourself also stayed hidden. ”