“They would go back to their homes and put me to rest, a letter from the past never reopened or reread.”

“I knew something as I watched: almost everyone was saying goodbye to me. I was becoming one of the many little-girl-losts. They would go back to their homes and put me to rest, a letter from the past never to be reopened or reread. And I could say goodbye to them, wish them well, bless them somehow for their good thoughts. A handshake in the street, a dropped item picked up and retrieved and handed back, or a friendly wave from the distant window, a nod, a smile, a moment when the eyes lock over the antics of a child.”

“I'm always nervous about going home, just as I am nervous about rereading books that have meant a lot to me.”

“I can never go back from this, Bianca. It would break me to let you go. You know that, right?”

“Huizi would say, never look back to the past. Never regret. Even if there is emptiness ahead, never look back.”

“A sum can be put right: but only by going back till you find the error and working it afresh from that point, never by simply going on.”