“What is the purpose of memory? Is it a trick to make sure we don't forget who we are by reminding us of who we were?”

“Things happen, I thought, and we respond. That's what it all comes down to. To believe anything else, as far as I could tell, was simply an illusion.”

“Freedom has its dangers as well as its joys. And the sooner we learn to get up after a fall, the better off we'll be.”

“Life is like that I thought, as I turned the corner to my building. Freedom has its danger as well as its joys. And the sooner we learn to get up after a fall, the better off will be.”

“And who's to say that just because something lasts only a short time, it has little value?”

“It used to surprise me, the intensity with which I still remembered these distant memories. But when I entered my fifties...I understood their enduring clarity....In the end, what adds up to a life is nothing more than the accumulation of small daily moments.”

“Maybe it was I who needed to learn how to be quiet instead of cluttering the moment with too many words.”