25
" If you saw humanity as I can see it, Uncle Jem said, a whisper in his mind, a lifeline. There is very little brightness and warmth in the world for me. I am very distant from you all. There are only four points of warmth and brightness, in the whole world, that burn fiercely enough for me to feel something like the person I was. Your mother, your father, Lucie, and you. You love, and tremble, and burn. Do not let any of them tell you who you are. You are the flame that cannot be put out. You are the star that cannot be lost. You are who you have always been, and that is enough and more than enough. Anyone who looks at you and sees darkness is blind.
"Blinder than a Silent Brother?" James asked, and hiccupped.
There was a laugh in James’s mind. They would have to be even blinder than a Silent Brother, Uncle Jem agreed. Because I can see you, James. I will always look to you for light. "
― Cassandra Clare , Nothing but Shadows (Tales from Shadowhunter Academy, #4)
30
" A mundane lady had wandered up to them at Hatchard's book shop in London....James' family often went to Hatchard's all together, but when James and his father went alone, ladies quite often found a reason to wander over to them and strike up a conversation. Father told the lady that he spent his days hunting evil and rare first editions. Father could always find something to say to people, could always make them laugh. This seemed a strange, wondrous power to James, as impossible to achieve as it would be for him to shape-shift like a werewolf. James did not worry about ladies approaching Father. Father never once looked at any woman the way he looked at Mother, with joy and thanksgiving, as if she was a living wish, granted past all hope. "
― Cassandra Clare , Nothing but Shadows (Tales from Shadowhunter Academy, #4)