The charitable acts that count the most are those done without anyone knowing.

Perfect happiness existed, but perhaps only in small increments.

—Elin Hilderbrand in The Island

What happened when we died? How were we to know that death wasn't as profound an adventure as life was?

—Elin Hilderbrand in Summerland

When you're in love, every day is like a present you get to open.

—Elin Hilderbrand in Winter Storms

I can't pretend to know what it feels like to lose a child, but I assume it's the worst pain I've ever felt times a thousand, or times a hundred thousand.

—Elin Hilderbrand in The Identicals

What was it about life now? The people who weren't present always seemed to be more important than the people who were.

—Elin Hilderbrand in Beautiful Day

Just because you keep something a secret doesn't mean it never happened, no matter how much you want that to be true.

—Jodi Picoult in Vanishing Acts

The backbone of surprise is fusing speed with secrecy.

—Carl von Clausewitz

Girls can be so petty and jealous. I swear they're worse than guys sometimes. Except they're all quiet about it. They sugarcoat it or else they talk behind each others backs. It's seriously twisted.

—Melody Carlson in The Jerk Magnet

Almost all our faults are more pardonable than the methods we resort to to hide them.

—Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Never tell all you know—not even to the person you know best.

—Agatha Christie in The Secret Adversary