"Oh, I didn't realize you thought he would only have reasons to be proud of you if you were literally perfect."
"Three, huh. But flaws can be different sizes and different tractabilities. That seems to matter at least as much as how numerous they are."
"I only think about them when they seem to be getting in your way, because I don't want things to get in your way."
"Other people might be trying to do that too and just not be very good at it."
"That doesn't mean they're not trying to help, it means they're probably not trying as hard. You could still get some information from them about what you could work on."
"I was not particularly adored on my own plane. People usually didn't hate me but I didn't have many friends, or any really close friends, and I had a very ordinary relationship with my parents - so I'm not at all sure this is a skill I have and not just something about how my personality interacts with being here."
"It could be a skill I have while being me in Valinor. Teaching other people to be me would be silly. And what I'm trying to walk you through is way too individual to make a good book for general audiences."