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

“Once upon a time," he said out loud to the darkness. He said these words because they were the best, the most powerful words that he knew and just the saying of them comforted him.”

“Say it, reader. Say the word 'quest' out loud. It is an extraordinary word, isn't it? So small and yet so full of wonder, so full of hope.”

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

“My favorite six letter word isalwaysbecause it promisesso much.My favorite five letter word isneverbecause it insists on contradictingthe promise.My favorite four letter word isoncebecause it says ithappened then. My favorite three letter word isyesbecause I’m just now learningto say itto my heart. My favorite two letter word isifbecause it makesall things possiblelike this: If not alwaysIf not neverThen once. Yes.”

“At the last moment, Antoinette came out of her faint and shouted one word to her child.That word, reader, was adieu...Adieu is the French word for farewell. “Farewell” is not the word you would like to hear from your mother as you are being led to the dungeon by two oversize mice in black hoods... “Farewell” is a word that, in any language, is full of sorrow. It is a word that promises absolutely nothing.”

“This is a wonderful joke to play upon a prisoner, to promise forgiveness.”