"There are times when fear is not our enemy. There are times when fear is our truest, sometimes only, friend."
This line of dialogue is one of the most important in the entire novel because it explains Dr. Warthrope's ethos. Fear, he explains, is sometimes not something to try to run away from and ignore. Sometimes, fear is a useful tool in a person's proverbial toolbelt that is one of the only things that guides and helps a person no matter their situation. But in other instances, fear is something that inhibits a person and prevents them from accomplishing as much as they otherwise would have.
"Yes, my dear child, monsters are real. I happen to have one hanging in my basement."
This is Will's introduction to the world of monstrumology by Dr. Warthrope, who is one of the world's leading monstrumologists. This quote, which some may perceive as being comical, is grounded in reality. Dr. Warthrope did, in fact, have a monster hanging in his basement and he used it to show Will monsters for the first time. This quote also reflects Dr. Warthrope's personality. He is a fatherly figure to Will and wants to prepare him as well as possible for the complex and often strange things will face as he grows and moves into adulthood.
"Self-pity is egotism undiluted, after all—self-centeredness in its purest form."
This is one of the funniest and most striking instances of irony in the novel. Throughout the novel, Dr. Warthrope is one of the most self-centered people (aside from his remarkably ironic decision to take Will in and raise him). Dr. Warthrope's quote provides depth to his characterization. Though he is a remarkably hard-working and intelligent man, he is not particularly self-aware. He is also not aware that he is a profoundly self-centered person with fairly large ego who occasionally pity's the situations he has found himself in his life (especially when he creates those difficult situations).
