“I know," I said, "but it scares me. It reminds me of my father."I'm not your father," said Mark. "Repeat after me, 'Mark Feldman is not my father.'"Mark Feldman is not my father," I said.Am I fat?" said Mark.No," I said.Am I bald?"No."Do I smell of Dr. Scholl's foot pads?"No," I said.I rest my case," said Mark.”

“My father was a very great man. I will never forget the last thing he ever said to me. Nor will I ever repeat it.”

“I want the brand gone, Cecile," Lesharo said quietly. “I have no wish to have Ducharme’s mark on me. If you will not permit Pierre to do this, will you do it?”“Ducharme said I should put my own mark on you,” she recalled, turning her face away at the memory. “I cannot do what he did.”“His mark is the mark of a pani, set upon me by a man who was less than an animal. I would proudly bear the scar you gave me, for it will be something done to me in friendship.”

“Jem told me what Ragnor Fell said about my father,” Will said. “That for my father, there was only ever one woman he loved, and it was her for him, or nothing. You are that for me. I love you, and I will only ever love you until I die —”

“I mark my years or parenting by the people who stepped in and forced me to abandon my inclination to meddle, micromanage, and coddle, beginning with my children's father, who sat me down and told me in year two that I was going to create a little monster if I continuted to act as though "no" and "I don't love you" were synonomous.”

“My father once asked me if I knew where yonder was. I said I thought yonder was another word for there. He smiled and said, "No, yonder is between here and there.”