Oh, Okay, I'll Play Too

Blogs and mailing lists I follow are all into the Bookworm Meme (find the nearest book, open it to page 56, and read the 5th sentence (why page 56?)).
*looks around*
Ha! The day I finally decide to play I'm at the office with no books and I don't even have my commuting book with me cos I'm editing my own novel on the train... Here you go...

From The Face of A Lion (the fifth sentence is kinda short. Therefore I'm just going to give you the whole of page 56):

"But why me?"
"All those who are chosen for such tasks ask that very same question. It is a mark of your humility that you should wonder at your own capabilities." Kedi's whiskers still tickled his knee. "The presence of such humility, couple with a dedication to the task before you, is precisely why you are suited so completely to this undertaking. Parua scintilla saepe magnam flamum excitat - a small spark often ignites a great flame."
Kedi's words swam in his head. As far as he could fathom, he'd been judged worthy to attempt a task no adult could accomplish, but he was no nearer to understanding just what qualities he could possibly have. His stomach gurgled again, reminding him of the dinner he'd shared with Nectan. Nectan the celt. Why should Nectan's people matter less than the Romans?

You know what? I do have books here - the library I started at the office! Let's see, what's a good one... Aha!

From It Shouldn't Happen to A Vet by James Herriot (again, the entire paragraph, cos it's fun!):

With increasing alarm I saw the two vehicles abreast and bearing down on us only a few hundred yards away and not a foot of space on either side of them. Of course the old car would pull in behind the lorry - it had to, there was no other way - but it was taking a long time about it. Tristan jammed on his brakes. If the lorry did the same, the other car would just be able to dodge between. But within seconds I realized nothing like that was going to happen and as they thundered towards us I resigned myself with dumb horror to a head-on collision.

He survived, of course, but with one entire side of Tristan's car ripped off...