Harry Potter / J.K. Rowling Wisdom

I'm re-reading the Harry Potter books (as a de-stress mechanism) and I really want to "hang on" to this quotation from Chamber of Secrets:

It is our choices, Harry , that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." - Dumbledore

Our choices. More than our abilities. Choose wisely.



When Harry told Dumbledore that he thought it was his father who had created the Patronus and sent it across the lake to save him and Sirius Black, he said, "It was stupid, thinking it was him, . . I mean, I knew he was dead."
"You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don't recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble?"

I've been missing my mom a lot lately, and struggling with some of life's issues. This scene made me cry.

(above written on 4.7.17 / below on 5.16.17)

Order of the Phoenix  - page 495 when Harry is determined to head back to the Dursleys, since he believes he is responsible for attacking Arthur Weasley as the snake he saw / was in his dream. The painting of Phineas Nigellus passes on the message from Dumbledore to stay and wait. Harry blows up.
"Stay there? That's all anyone could tell me after I got attacked by those dementors too! Just stay put while the grown-ups sort it out, Harry! We won't bother telling you anything, though, because your tiny little brain might not be able to cope with it!"
"You know," said Phineas Nigellus, even more loudly than Harry, "this is precisely why I loathed being a teacher! Young people are so infernally convinced that they are absolutely right about everything."

Although I certainly do not loathe being a teacher, sometimes students can be maddening.

page 823, after the battle in the Ministry of Magic, Harry is back in Dumbledore's study.
"I know how you are feeling, Harry," said Dumbledore very quietly.
"No, you don't," said Harry, and his voice was suddenly loud and strong. White-hot anger leapt inside him. Dumbledore knew nothing about his feelings.
"You see, Dumbledore?" said Phineas Nigellus slyly. "Never try to understand the students. They hate it. They would much rather be tragically misunderstood, wallow in self-pity, stew in their own - "
"That's enough, Phineas," said Dumbledore.

For some reason, I just really liked Phineas this time around . . .

(below added 5.26.17)
The Deathly Hallows, page 697:
"Every second he breathed, the smell of the grass, the cool air on his face, was so precious: To think that people had years and years, time to waste, so much time it dragged, and he was clinging to each second." Yes. Life is precious and can be gone so quickly. 

(adding again - 11.14.17)
From Sorcerer's Stone:
 “To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” - Dumbledore to Harry when they talk about the stone's destruction and what that will mean for Nicholas Flamel and his wife.