The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #1)

by Lemony Snicket

Although he said he was the executor, Violet felt like Mr. Poe was the executioner. He had simply walked down the beach to them and changed their lives forever.

If you have ever lost someone very important to you, then you already know how it feels, and if you haven’t, you cannot possibly imagine it.

Your initial opinion on just about anything may change over time.

Sometimes, just saying that you hate something, and having someone agree with you, can make you feel better about a terrible situation.

You and I, of course, would never do this to any of our grieving acquaintances, but it is a sad truth in life that when someone has lost a loved one, friends sometimes avoid the person, just when the presence of friends is most needed.

“‘In loco parentis’ means ‘acting in the role of parent,’” he said.

Hamiton lol

There are many words for people like that, but “standoffish” is not one of them.

The money is an incentive—the word “incentive” here means “an offered reward to persuade you to do something you don’t want to do”—to read long, dull, and difficult books.

They didn’t understand it, but like so many unfortunate events in life, just because you don’t understand it doesn’t mean it isn’t so.