“The future does not happen just by chance.”

“Some aspects of life are strange or even terrible, but later something okay or even good happens that would never have happened without the bad/strange thing. -- "The Higher Power of Lucky”

“Because sometimes Lucky wanted to change everything, all the bad things that had happened, and sometimes she wanted everything to stay the same forever.”

“Sometimes we get this great gift, man, and we just take it for granted. We only figure it out, how much we lost, when it's gone. —Short Sammy”

“It made her feel discouraged, like if you took the word apart into two sections of dis and couraged. It was getting harder and harder to stay couraged.”

“It is not comfortable or easy to sit in a principal's office, waiting for a verdict.”

“It was like the moment before you open a present, still hidden inside its box and wrappings; while you're waiting to find out what it is, the eagerness and impatience and curiosity and anticipation grip you in an even stronger, more thrilling way than you feel after you find out what's inside.”