"Pulvis et umbra sumus. It's a line from Horace. 'We are dust and shadows'. Appropriate, don't you think?"Will said. "It's not a long life, killing demons; one tends to die young, and then they burn your body - dust to dust, in the literal sense. And then we vanish into the shadows of history, nary a mark on the page of a mundane book to remind the world that once we existed at all."
"Only the very weak-minded refuse to be influenced by literature and poetry."
"I believe in good and evil,"said Jem. "And I believe the soul is eternal. But I don't believe in the fiery pit, the pitchforks, or endless torment. I do not believe you can threaten people into goodness."Tessa looked at will. "What about you? What do you believe?"Pulvis et umbra sumus,"said Will, not looking at her as he spoke. "I believe we are dust and shadows. What else is there?"
"There's plenty of sense in nonsense sometimes, if you wish to look for it."
"Will suspected Jem was in fact cleverer than he was himself - but he lacked Will's tendency to assume the absolute worst about people and proceed from there."
"Will rolled up his sleeves. "We'll probably have to knock down the door--""Or,"said Jem, reaching out and giving the knob a twist, "not."The door swung open onto a rectangle of darkness. "Now, that's simply laziness,"said Will."