The only way to learn is to live.
-- Nora (The Tree That Is Our Life)

Importance: This quote perfectly captures the moral of this novel: you have to stick around for life to get good. When the reader first meets Nora, she is a depressed, suicidal, lonely woman. Nora would give anything to feel needed, to feel as though her life has a purpose. Her adventure in the midnight library teaches her that life is worth living. Nora learns that by simply taking risks and shifting your perspective, you can be truly happy in whatever life you choose. At the start of her adventure, Nora is reluctant to even try and experience her dream-lives. But as the novel progresses, Nora realizes that she does not wish to die; more than anything, she wants to live.

A person was like a city. You couldn’t let a few less desirable parts put you off the whole.
-- Narrator (The Three Horseshoes)

Importance: Haig includes the...