How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Patience, gentleness, strength, honesty," Edwin said. He looked up in to the trees. "Animals can teach us more about ourselves than any teacher." (2.22-23)
Cole doesn't believe in anyone or anything, but Edwin knows that spending some time on the island will change things for the boy. If Cole watches and observes the animals and plants around him, he'll learn some deep lessons.
Quote #2
And then he sensed a presence. He peered wide-eyed into the black night but could see nothing. Then lightning flashed again with a sharp crack, closer this time. In that instant, Cole saw it, ghostlike. Barely fifty feet away, the giant Spirit Bear stood motionless in the rain. (9.12)
When Cole first shows up on the island, he doesn't believe that this mystical Spirit Bear is real. But the bear soon appears to him when he's all alone—just when he needs a push to change and reexamine his life.
Quote #3
Now Cole felt himself slipping fast. he had struggled too long to hold on, his energy bleeding away. Now it was his turn to die. This thought made Cole sad, but he accepted it. He felt content. Before the end of his life he had seen beauty. He had trusted and been trusted. (12.25)
It's only when Cole nears death that he starts to realize the beauty in the world and how it can be found even in the direst circumstances. He just has to look harder to find it.