“My friends are always conscious of what people think of them. As though life is something that has an audience.”

“The whole fairground with all its memories would soon be smashed into the dust.”

“He was one of those people who completely changes when they smile. Like the sun had come out.”

“Just for a moment, amid all the bad stuff, this was a happy place again.”

“Being clingy may work for puppies, but not for you.”

“She had never met Caroline's mother, but she knew a thing or two about what happened when someone went far away, how after a time you couldn't see their faces anymore when you closed your eyes or h...”

“But who can remember pain, once its over? All that remains of it is a shadow, not in the mind even, in the flesh. Pain marks you, but too deep to see. Out of sight, out of mind.”

“I know what you are learning to endure. There is nothing to be done. Make sure nothing is wasted. Take notes. Remember it all, every insult, every tear. Tattoo it on the inside of your mind. In lif...”

“My mind, I know, I can prove, hovers on hummingbird wings. It hovers and it churns. And when it's operating at full thrust, the churning does not stop. The machines do not rest, the systems rarely ...”