“Painful is the stress when one cannot reproduce or convey vividly to others, however hard he tries, what he's experienced so intensely.”

“A man cannot impart the true feeling of things to others unless he himself has experienced what he is trying to tell of.”

“All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered.”

“The author, then in the final stage as a candidate for Delta Force, was asked by the unit's foreboding colonel what he thought of the evaluation's Stress Week. He responded that he was waiting for it to begin, reasoning that, used to responsibility for others while leading a platoon, he only had himself to worry about. However hard the trial, he got four meals a day, nobody shot at, him, and the weather was pleasant.”

“A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise.”

“They all have always loved you, Will Herondale, for you cannot hide what is good about yourself, however hard you try.”