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“Despereaux looked at his father, at his grey-streaked fur and trembling whiskers and his front paws clasped together in front of his heart, and he felt suddenly as if his own heart would break in two. His father looked so small, so sad.
"Forgive me," said Lester again.
Forgiveness, reader, is, I think, something very much like hope and love, a powerful, wonderful thing.
And a ridiculous thing, too.
Isn't it ridiculous, after all, to think that a son could forgive his father for beating the drum that sent him to his death? Isn't it ridiculous to think that a mouse ever could forgive anyone for such perfidy?
But still, here are the words Despereaux Tilling spoke to his father. He said, "I forgive you, Pa."
And he said those words because he sensed it was the only way to save his own heart, to stop it from breaking in two. Despereaux, reader, spoke those words to save himself.”
― Kate DiCamillo, The Tale of Despereaux

“Words are so wonderful to read, so nourishing to the mind. But really! It's just a fantasy. One doesn't eat words! one reads them”
― Mary Amato, The Word Eater

“The day the flesh shapes and the flesh the day shapes.”
― Frank Herbert, Dune

“But answer me this: how can a story end happily if there is no love?”
― Kate DiCamillo, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane