“We both keep quiet. Again.Today just seems like a day for it. Its easier that way. You dont have to say things you dont want to say because once the words are out, youll have to confront them.Confr...”

“Its like a domino effect. After all the time of neatly putting the pieces together, one wrong move, one moment of distraction, and all of it comes falling down. The same happens to us. While ignori...”

“But, is it more important to stay true to yourself, to what you believe in, or give it up for someone you care about?Lisa gives me a warm smile and her hand finds mine on the table.There is no righ...”

“I want more from life. I want to travel, see the world, and meet different kinds of people. I dont want to stay locked in a small country, living my life halfheartedly the way society expects me to...”

“Im not sure if I managed to respond or not; maybe it was all just in my head, a dream, like all others, in which he sneaks into my head when I dont have any power to hold him at arms length.But Wil...”

“Why did you run away last time? William asks quietly, so quietly that at first, I think Im imagining it...Because you are dangerous for me, I say in the same tone so that he is the only one who can...”

“Trust your heart if the seas catch fire, live by love though the stars walk backward.”

“The decision is mine, and I choose happiness”

“...we confidently say that it's not worth trying to reach any conclusions merely because we decide to stop halfway along the path that would lead us straight to them.”

“Marriage must fight constantly against a monster which devours everything: routine.”

“I know that the whole pointthe only pointis tofind the things that matter, and hold on to them, and fight for them, and refuse tolet them go.”

“No one lived forever. But you fought for every minute you could get. Bought a little more with a lot of hard work.”

“When I say it's you I like, I'm talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for t...”

“You know Balbec so well - do you have friends in the area?'I have friends wherever there are companies of trees, wounded but not vanquished, which huddle together with touching obstinacy to implore...”

“Things that matter are not easy. Feelings of happiness are easy. Happiness is not. Flirting is easy. Love is not. Saying youre friends is easy. Being friends is not.”