“The whole thing's illusion, [Jacob], and there's nothing wrong with that. It's what people want from us. It's what they expect.”

“There's nothing wrong with being scared...It happens to all of us. What's wrong is if we don't try things because we're afraid. We can't hide away from the things that scare us.”

“If there's one thing I learned from Rodrick, it's to set people's expectations real low so you end up surprising them by practically doing nothing at all.”

“But it's not enough to know right from wrong. You need the strength to do what's right, even when what you want most in the world is the wrong thing.”

“It's not given to people to judge what's right or wrong. People have eternally been mistaken and will be mistaken, and in nothing more than in what they consider right and wrong.”

“I don't know why I feel so wounded with Kartik's obvious infatuation with Pippa. There's no romance between us. There's nothing that tethers us but this dark secret neither of us wants. It's not Kartik's longing that hurts. It's my own. It's knowing that I'll never have what she has--a beauty so powerful it brings things to you. I fear I will always have to chase things I want. I'll always have to wonder whether I'm truly wanted or whether I've just been settled for.”