You’re as old as the land and you’ve never heard of sarcasm?” Conor asked.
<i>Oh, I have heard of it,</i> the monster said, putting its huge branch hands on its hips. <i>But people usually know better than to speak it to me.</i>

They’re weak and strong and they make mistakes, like anyone, like he has. And love and care have all kinds of different faces, and within them, there’s room for understanding, and for forgiveness, and for more. More and more and more.

"I don't do pity kisses," she says. "I don't do pity anything. Pity is patronizing. Pity is an assumption of superiority."
"That sounds like your dad."
"It is my dad, but he's right. He says kindness is better. Kindness is the most important thing of all. Pity is an insult. Kindness is a miracle."