It is almost a definition of a gentleman to say that he is one who never inflicts pain.

Look Back in forgiveness, forward in hope, down in compassion and up in gratitude.

Are people drawn to each other because of the stories they carry inside? At the library I couldn't help but notice which patrons checked out the same books. They appeared to have nothing in common, but who could tell what a person was truly made of? The unknown, the riddle, the deepest truth. I noticed them all: the ones who'd lost their way, the ones who'd lived their lives in ashes, the ones who had to prove themselves, the ones who, like me, had lost the ability to feel.

Love more, her aunt had said. Not less.

what does love matter in a world where it's so easy to hurt someone?

There are none who can fight as fiercely as a mother and a daughter, and none who can forgive more completely.

Mean people are meaningless.

Then I understood that when someone begins to tell you her story, you are entwined together. Perhaps even more so if the ending hasn't been divulged. It was exactly like dreaming the same dream, then waking too soon and never finding out what had happened.

Such was the case with most unhappy students; they avoided even one another, so intent on their own unhappiness they failed to notice the other lost souls around them.

And what of monsters? Can they love too? We know quite well they can. For we know that they do.

Tell me you won't walk away again and I'll call the whole thing off.

Let my burden be your burden, and yours be mine.