“Giulio was against our meeting. He didn't want me getting mixed up in things that, in his opinion, were no concern of mine. For decades the respectable people here did nothing but repeat that the Mafia was no concern of theirs but only involved the people involved in it. But I used to teach my pupils that the see-nothing, know-nothing attitude is the most mortal of sins. So now that its my turn to tell what I saw, I'm supposed to take a step back?”

“I have accomplished so much in my life, but I can take nothing with me when I go. Nothing except what’s in here.” He moved his hand between them and pressed it against his heart. “You’re in here. You’ve always been and you’ll always be. You are what I will take back.”

“I actually took a step back as each of their eyes met mine. Evan's was sympathetic; that scared me. Matt's was appraising; that concerned me. Griffins's was irritated; that...was really nothing new.”

“Why am I good to you?” he repeated, his lips brushing against mine as he spoke. “Because I can see you are broken. And I want nothing more than to put you back together.”

“As far as I could tell, life was nothing but a forced march down a mined highway. Even if you did everything you were supposed to do, sooner of later if was your turn to step on a claymore.”

“Interestingly, this was the only incident of blatant prejudice that I canremember. But I am aware that such opinions exist in human beings, andit's not a question of being Egyptian or being an Arab or being a Muslim.One could be a Christian against a Jew or a Jew against a Christian, or awhite against a black, or a man against a woman. My philosophy is notto let such attitudes stop me from what I want to do. I don't take it veryseriously, although as you can see, I remember the incident very well.The point was I had to get on with my work and had to behave properly,and in the process perhaps even change the opinion of these people. Buton the other hand, if I did nothing but complain and feel sorry for myself,then I wouldn't get anywhere.”