“I thought you were supposed to be the champion of your people,' I said.I live because I need to do that. For anyone who is left.'Don't you see? No one will be left. Protect them now or there will be no one to protect!' This is a battle that goes on and on. It never ends. You're too young to understand.No! You're too much of a coward to fight.'I was sick of lies and secrets and of battles so old we had to erase who we were to fight back. And still we lost. Still we were tied to posts.”

“I have a fierce will to live. Others fight a little, then lose hope. Still others - and I am one of those - never give up. We fight and fight and fight. We fight no matter the cost of battle, the losses we take, the improbability of success. We fight to the very end.”

“At the time I didn't realize their lie was a defense against the fear they had of losing their mother. I was still too young to understand that most lies were not about stealing or fighting or cheating but were just ways by which a person shrinks their whole world down to a size they can keep protected in the palm of one hand.”

“We all miss you so much. It just never ends. It feels like we were all wounded in your battle, Caroline. I miss you. I love you.”

“Love is a battle," said Marie-Claude, still smiling. "And I plan to go on fighting. To the end."Love is a battle?" said Franz. "Well, I don't feel at all like fighting." And he left.”

“We lived like the only two people on the planet because we thought we were, I still need to know that... That you are still the only person in my world.”