You really think joy is easier to come by than pain? What have you had more of?

His lips made a grim twist that was like the joyless cousin of a smile.

This new thing that sprang up between them, it was... astral. It reshaped the air, and was in her, too - a warm and softening, a pull- and for that moment, her hands in his, Karou felt as powerless as starlight tugged toward the sun in the huge, strange warp of space.

From the ashes [...] we are arisen.

And that's how you go on. You lay laughter over the dark parts. The more dark parts, the more you have to laugh. With defiance, with abandon, with hysteria, any way you can.

What's the point of being old if you can't beleaguer the young with your vast stores of wisdom?

And what's the point of being young if you can't ignore all advice?