“Life for the Italians was what it was, no more and no less, an interlude between meals”
“Life is a series of boring interludes between meals.”
“Our relationship had been intended as an interlude. And it had become an interlude. My expectations had been fulfilled. Anyone who expected anything more would have been wallowing in illusions.”
“A pacifist between wars is like a vegetarian between meals.”
“This is how life works. Deciding whom to love is not an alien form of decision-making, a romantic interlude in the midst of normal life. Instead, decisions about whom to love are more intense versions of the sorts of decisions we make throughout the course of our existence, from what kind of gelato to order to what career to pursue. Living is an inherently emotional business.”
“Our life would be what we made of it--nothing more, nothing less.”