Humans are more or less identical except for a few peculiar habits generally delineated by geographic circumstances and historical precedent. But ess… - Jasper Fforde

"I always really admired you growing up. Always smiling through your unhappiness. A real inspiration."
"I wasn't unhappy."
"You looked unhappy."
"Looks can be deceptive."
"All too true," she said, "but I meant what I said: inspirational in a sort of tragic way, like you were the failure in the family, but always looked on the bright side of everything."
"You're very kind," I said, long used to Megan's ways, "but it could have been much worse: I could have been born without tact or empathy, and be shallow, self-absorbed and hideously patronizing."

“What’s in Hangar One at the moment?” I asked the driver.
“The Magus.”
“Still?” Even the biggest refit never took more than a week, and John Fowles’s labyrinthine-plotted masterpiece had been in there nearly five.
“It’s taking longer than we thought—they removed all the plot elements for cleaning, and no one can remember how they go back together again.”
“I’m not sure it will make a difference,” I murmured as we pulled up outside Hangar Eight.

"Do I have to talk to insane people?"
"You're a librarian now. I'm afraid it's mandatory."