“Happiness springs up of itself in a united family. - House of Exile”

“Glazed brick, white mortar, and blue roof-tiles do not make a house beautiful; carved rosewood, gold cloth, and clear green jade do not furnish a house with grace; a man of cultivated mind makes a house of mud and wattle beautiful; a woman, even with a pock-marked face; if refined of heart, fills a house with grace. -House of Exile”

“When your children are teenagers, it's important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you.”

“Don't give up on your own happy-evers.”

“You are wise as well as short.""I can also break bricks with my bare hands.""That's a handy skill if you ever find yourself walled up in the basement of an abandoned house by a psychopath.”

“Begging your pardon, princess. Did I neglect to pull my forelock?"She held up a hand.Her temper was a vile thing when loose, and the drumming in her head warned her it was very close to springing free."I'm already annoyed.It won't take much to push me to furious.”

“The outward appearance would never indicate they were brothers. (...) But she could see that at the moment they were as united as triplets in the womb.”