“Maybe they were born of karma, their own or their parents', Zack thought; maybe the universe had a purpose for them, and they were what they were because the world needed them to be that way.”

“Hector wished suddenly that leaving the circus was as easy as joining. He didn't fancy the ghost of Harvey Burfoot hunting him down and passing judgement on him. Troupe mythology varied on the details – some said he had the ability to stop your heart with just a stare, others that he strangled you with corporeal hands that grew stronger as he drained your life-force. Either way, the Law was that nobody left; to leave was death; and Hectordidn't hate himself that much yet.”

“The second officer had turned fully to look down at Vincent's saws. “Those are for dissecting dwarves and children,” The Saw Man said, gravely.”

“I'm a survivor. I was thinking about what you said, and you're absolutely right - I have to let go to continue. This devastating news is not going to slow me down. I'm my own person. I always have been. I've never believed in those people who blame everything on their parents - you know, I'm a fuck-up because my father was a fuck-up. Or I'm a drunk because my mother was an alcoholic. So my father was a hit man? Maybe. So he murdered my mother? Maybe. I don't know any of these things for a fact. But I'm accepting them, and I'm beginning to realize they're not part of who I am.”

“When children are very young, they have natural curiosities about the world and explore them, trying diligently to figure out what is real. As they become "producers " they fall away from exploration and start fishing for the right answers with little thought. They believe they must always be right, so they quickly forget mistakes and how these mistakes were made. They believe that the only good response from the teacher is "yes," and that a "no" is defeat.”

“We can best help children learn, not by deciding what we think they should learn and thinking of ingenious ways to teach it to them, but by making the world, as far as we can, accessible to them, paying serious attention to what they do, answering their questions -- if they have any -- and helping them explore the things they are most interested in.”

“Of all I saw and learned this past half year, one thing stands out. What goeson in the class is not what teachers think-- certainly not what I had alwaysthought. For years now I have worked with a picture in mind of what myclass was like. This reality, which I felt I knew, was partly physical, partlymental or spiritual. In other words, I thought I knew, in general, what thestudents were doing, and also what they were thinking and feeling. I see nowthat my picture of reality was almost wholly false. Why didn’t I see thisbefore?”