“Enter the ring like you want to be seen, not like you’ve been pushed in.”

“Why does any kind of cynicism appeal to people? Because it seems like a mark of maturity, of sophistication, like you’ve seen everything and know better. Or because putting something down feels like pushing yourself up.”

“It’s like trying to describe a color you’ve never seen before. Words can’t make you understand what real love is like. But until you’ve felt it … you haven’t really lived.”

“I hadn’t seen any novel make the statement that entering the workforce was like entering the grave. That from then on, nothing happens and you have to pretend to be interested in your work. And, furthermore, that some people have a sex life and others don’t just because some are more attractive than others. I wanted to acknowledge that if people don’t have a sex life, it’s not for some moral reason, it’s just because they’re ugly. Once you’ve said it, it sounds obvious, but I wanted to say it.”

“You’ve been nothing but scared since you first entered this forest,” said Wend as she put down the last of the leaves on the trap. “And when you saw me, you turned white as a ghost.”“That’s not because I’m scared,” said Jeskun, taking Dahkar and hiding him behind some trees. “I just--never saw anyone like you.”“You’ve never seen a girl?”“No, not that,” said Jeskun, frustrated.“I’ve just never--you have green hair and eyes and green lashes and green freckles. It’s all green, like the trees. I’ve never seen that.”“And you have yellow hair,” said Wend, inspecting her blade, not impressed with his reasoning. “This world is full of many colors.”

“When you’ve been on a boat for a while, its sounds gets to be like the sound of your own heartbeat. It’s always there, constant, steady, until after a while you don’t hear it anymore. Then something changes. The speed, or the rhythm, or the tune. Suddenly the sound rings in your ears.”