“Shouldn't You Be in School?”

You cannot wait for an untroubled world to have an untroubled moment. The terrible phone call, the rainstorm, the sinister knock on the door—they will all come. Soon enough arrive the treacherous villain and the unfair trial and the smoke and the flames of the suspicious fires to burn everything away. In the meantime, it is best to grab what wonderful moments you find lying around.

“Look around,” she said, with a gesture around the Far East Suite. “Look at everything in plain sight. The bed, the table, every object you see has likely been in the world longer than us, and they’ll still be in the world when we’re gone. It is the things that have a history, L. Compared to them we are ghosts.”

At least half of the janitors you encounter in your life are working for the enemy.

“Look at everything in plain sight. The bed, the table, every object you see has likely been in the world longer than us, and they’ll still be in the world when we’re gone. It is the things that have a history, L. Compared to them we are ghosts.”

You are unsupervised, Snicket, I thought. You won’t get any help. You’ll have to help yourself.

“People who think nothing can go wrong are usually disappointed.”

I gave enough answers that she couldn’t say I wasn’t answering but not enough answers to answer anything. I’d learned how to do this almost as soon as I’d learned to talk. Everybody does.

You cannot have a really terrific library without at least one terrific librarian, the way you cannot have a really terrific bedroom unless you can lock the door.

“The treachery of the world will continue no matter how much you worry about it, L. Get some rest, and let people take care of their own messes tonight.”

I looked at her ankle and then at my own, and her smile got bigger.