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21 " There ain't a body, be it mouse or man, that ain't made better by a little soup. "
― Kate DiCamillo , The Tale of Despereaux
22 " And so he was reading the story as if it were a spell and the words of it, spoken aloud, could make magic happen. "
23 " Pea was aware suddenly of how fragile her heart was, how much darkness was inside it, fighting, always, with the light. She did not like the rat. She would neverlike the rat, but she knew what she must do to save her own heart. "
24 " He was reading from the beginning so that he could get to the end, where the reader was assured that the knight and the fair maiden lived together happily ever after. "
25 " Rats have a sense of humor. Rats, in fact think the world is very funny. And they are right, dear reader. They are right. "
26 " The shapes arranged themselves into words, and the words spelled out a delicious and wonderful phrase: Once upon a time. "
27 " Everything, as you well know . . . cannot always be sweetness and light. "
28 " Allow me to congratulate you on your very astute powers of observation. "
29 " At the thought of being eaten by rats, Despereaux forgot about being brave. He forgot about not being a disappointment. He felt himself heading into another faint. But his mother, who had an excellent sense of dramatic timing, beat him to it; she executed a beautiful, flawless swoon, landing right at Despereaux's feet. "
30 " I honor you! "
31 " When you are a king, you may make as many ridiculous laws as you like. That is what being a king is all about. "
32 " Everything, as you well know (having lived in this world long enough to have figured out a thing or two for yourself), cannot always be sweetness and light. "
33 " I will be brave, thought Despereaux. I will try to be brave like a knight in shining armour. I will be brave for the Princess Pea. "
34 " It seems to be that way with most things. No one to do the really disagreeable jobs except oneself. "
35 " Do you know what it means to be emphatic? I will tell you: It means that when you are being forcibly taken to a dungeon, when you have a large knife at your back, when you are trying to be brave, you are able, still, to think for a moment of the person who is holding the knife. "
36 " At least Lester had the decency to weep at his act of perfidy. Reader, do you know what 'perfidy' means? I have a feeling you do, based on the scene that unfolded here. But you should look up the word in your dictionary, just to be sure. "
37 " There is somebody who loves me," said Despereaux. "And I love her and that is the only thing that matters to me. "
38 " He let the light from the upstairs world enter him and fill him. He gasped aloud with the wonder of it. "
39 " Are you a man or a mouse? "
40 " The world is dark, and light is precious. "