“I've been deflecting Calypso's blushes all day. I don't have the energy to deflect yours," he said through clenched teeth. "So either block or strip." -- The Twelfth House ~ The Elementals Book I”

“Respect for the faith of sincere believers cannot be allowed either to block or deflect the investigation of the historian.”

“What are you doing, meditating?""No, I'm trying to calm down so I don't kick your ass," she said through clenched teeth.”

“No, I'm too busy trying to deflect your Power of Stupidity. But I don't think I'm strong enough.”

“He was as needy as she was. Alvin Finch only wanted to be needed. Loved. And absent of either, he resorted to deflecting his pain by killing. Just like a teenager might resort to deflecting the pain of rejection by cutting. People did a lot of crazy things to be wanted.”

“All I want is' - and he uttered the final words through clenched teeth and with a sort of shame - 'to retain my freedom.'I should myself have thought,' said Jacques, 'that freedom consisted in frankly confronting situations into which one had deliberately entered, and accepting all one's responsibilities. But that, no doubt, is not your view.”