“This was different: the feeling of being chosen. Out of everybody in the world...this boy had picked him as the one he liked best of all.”

“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. ”

“It's strange, isn't it? One small bit of information - a private relationship, something that happened a long time ago - and the whole story seems different.”

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

“There is a difference between giving into something and accepting it.”

“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. . .”

“A great friendship was like a great work of art, he thought. It took time and attention, and a spark of something that was impossible to describe. It was a happy, lucky accident, finding some kindred part of yourself in a total stranger.”