How the Light Gets In (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #9)

by Louise Penny

how much easier it was to shoot than to talk. How much easier it was to shout than to be reasonable. How much easier it was to humiliate and demean and misuse authority than to be dignified and courteous, even to those who were themselves none of those things. How much more courage it took to be kind than to be cruel.

Our lives are like a house. Some people are allowed on the lawn, some onto the porch, some get into the vestibule or kitchen. The better friends are invited deeper into our home, into our living room.”

“Do you know what the aboriginals called the white pine?” “Ethel?” asked Nichol. “The tree of peace.”