“And so he was reading the story as if it were a spell and the words of it, spoken aloud, could make magic happen.”

“Despereaux was reading the story out loud to himself. He was reading from the beginning so that he could get to the end...”

“The shapes arranged themselves into words, and the words spelled out a delicious and wonderful phrase: Once upon a time.”

“He was reading from the beginning so that he could get to the end, where the reader was assured that the knight and the fair maiden lived together happily ever after.”

“They lived happily ever after. It said so. In the book. They were the last words on the page. Happily ever after. Despereaux was sure that he had read exactly those words time and time again.Lying on the floor with the drum beating and the mice shouting... Despereaux had a sudden, chilling thought: Had some other mouse eaten the words that spoke the truth? Did the knight and the fair maiden really not live happily ever after?”

“Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Tell Gregory a story. Make some light.”

“He let the light from the upstairs world enter him and fill him. He gasped aloud with the wonder of it.”