“Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear.”

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”

“We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.”

“...convinced that in trying to please all, he had pleased none, and had lost his ass into the bargain.”

“No one believes a liar even when he tells the truth”

“An Ass put on a Lion's skin and wentAbout the foreset with much merriment,Scaring the foolish beasts by brooks and rocks,Till at last he tried to scare the Fox. But Reynard, hearing from beneath th...”

“Every springI hear the thrush singingin the glowing woodshe is only passing through.His voice is deep,then he lifts it until it seemsto fall from the sky.I am thrilled.I am grateful.Then, by the en...”

“The crow flew closer, as if to hear its praises.”

“A male frigate bird blows up a wild red pouch on his neck. He can keep it puffed up for hours. It is his way of impressing the girls.”

“Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul And sings the tune without the words And never stops at all.”

“Before she could stop her hands, they reached for him, as though they existed for no other reason than to touch him. Her fingers brushed across his jaw with a feather's caress before pulling away, ...”

“That's the beauty of it. Have you seen the contraptions these magicians build to accomplish the most mundane feats? They are a bunch of fish covered in feathers trying to convince the public they c...”

“Fine," he repeated, and I wondered why it was I kept coming back to this, again and again, a word that you said when someone asked how you were but didn't really care to know the truth.”

“All is fine with the world...”

“Your mother is going to be fine," the nurse says. I breathe more easily but the word settles into my stomach. Fine. Was she fine before?”