“Immortality is a chancy thing; it cannot be promised or earned. Perhaps it cannot even be identified for what it is.”

“...No opening sermons concerning children with humps and fins for limbs, who nonetheless, immortal souls all, deserve life, liberty, and the pursuit of Happy Meals.”

“I shall pray for your soul,' promised Nessarose.I shall wait for your shoes,' Elphie answered.”

“The truth isn't a thing of fact or reason. It is simply what everyone agrees on.”

“Perhaps family itself, like beauty, is temporary, and no discredit need attach to impermanence.”

“...perhaps charity is the kind of beauty that we comprehend the best because we miss it the most.”

“When you get right down to it, every collection of letters is a magic spell, even it it's a moronic proclamation ... Words have their impact, girl. Mind your manners. I may not know how to fly but I know how to read, and that's almost the same thing.”