“Do you talk by rule, then, while you are dancing?"Sometimes. One must speak a little, you know. It would look odd to be entirely silent for half an hour together, and yet for the advantage of some, conversation ought to be so arranged as that they may have the trouble of saying as little as possible.”

“The least you could do is offer a little conversation.” Beckett dodged a pothole, keeping his eyes on the road.“You want me to talk?”“It would be the polite thing to do.”“Okay. Let’s talk.”“Any topic will be fine.”“I’m going to sit here and silently think of one. Might take a while.”

“But that is not to say that there might not be someone in the world - I do not say I have seen him yet - whom I would be a little afraid to look at sometimes - for fear that he might be looking sad - or lost - or thoughtful, or - what, you know, might seem the worst of all - brooding on some private anger or hurt and so not knowing or caring if I looked at him at all.”

“I want you to know that I'm just like you, and, just like you, sometimes I have a little trouble holding things together.”

“The snail may leave a trail of slime behind him, but a little slime will do a man no harm, while if you dance with dragons, you must expect to burn.”

“So don't stop moving forward. For a while, you may feel as though you're taking two steps forward, one step back. And there may be some personal heartache along the way. But when you look your little ones in the eye, you will find your voice and take a stand for them. We are their voices. And we must have the courage to stand up for them, whatever the odds or however powerful the opposition might be.”