“Roger Bacon held that three classes of substance were capable of magic: the herbal, the mineral, and the verbal. With their leaves of fiber, their inks of copperas and soot, and their words, books are an amalgam of the three.”

“sonny had circled three words in gold ink: i love thee.”

“He swam against the hard current of the class bores - there were three - who could relate every incident in the book to something in their own lives.”

“Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts - the book of their deeds, the book of their words and the book of their art.”

“And then a prince will come along and say the magic words and three ravens will give you the magic tokens and a fish will carry you on his back”

“The answer is three, I said as I held up three fingers—my middle through my pinky—and I formed a loop with my index finger and my thumb, which also shapes the universal sign for “asshole.” A verbal response, backed up by its unspoken reflection, with a hidden hand gesture buried in the sub context.”