“While people brood, time skips ahead without looking back.”

“A world in which time is absolute is a world of consolation. For while the movements of people are unpredictable, the movement of time is predictable. While people can be doubted, time cannot be doubted. While people brood, time skips ahead without looking back. In the coffee houses, in the government buildings, in boats of Lake Geneva, people look at their watches and take refuge in time. Each person knows that somewhere is recorded the moment she was born, the moment she took her first step, the moment of her first passion, the moment she said goodbye to her parents.”

“Chunks of his life fell away, so that while we were moving ahead in time, he was moving back.”

“It is better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret.”

“They say not to look back, but if you’re not sure what lies ahead, what else is there but looking back?”

“I don’t believe in skipping ahead Dale. I read the book all the way through.”