“Emperors are vain and useless things.”

“The world needed more fireworks- especially now that there was going to be a shortage of beautiful, useless things.”

“Being pretty-minded is simply the natural state for most people. They want to be vapid and lazy and vain . . . and selfish. It only takes a twist to lock in that part of their personalities.”

“Your father always suspected that being pretty-minded is simply the natural state for most people. They want to be vapid and lazy and vain—Maddy glanced at Tally—and selfish. It only takes a twist to lock in that part of their personalities. He always thought that some people could think their way out of it.”

“MOST THINGS DON’T HAPPEN”

“Sometimes, the hardest thing was doingnothing.”

“You see, freedom has a way of destroying things.”