“Joy passed, but happiness never completely disappeared; a touch of it would always remain to remind one it had been there. It was happiness that made one smile, then.”

“But nobody ever forgot anything, not really, though sometimes they pretended, when it suited them. Memories were permanent. Sorrowful ones remained sad even with the passing of time, yet happy ones could never be recreated - not with the same joy. Remembering bred its own peculiar sorrow. It seemed so unfair: that time should render both sadness and happiness into a source of pain.”

“But Anya, you're not any girl, you are someone very special. You have a gift of happiness that's almost magical".To Anya the gentle fluttering of new life within reminded her that Adam had not only been there in Stockholm but would remain with her forever."It is completely possible. Idiopathic reversals of ovarian failure are well documented in the literature.”

“I had never felt such happiness, not with one man or two or three, never felt this feeling before...this feeling of...completeness? Yes, that was it, completeness! I simply didn't need anyone else.”

“Happy, Muriel? No, not happy. Your aim is wrong. There is no such thing as happiness. Life bends joy and pain, beauty and ugliness, in such a way that no one may isolate them. No one should want to. Perfect joy, or perfect pain, with no contrasting element to define them, would mean a monotony of consciousness, would mean death.”

“One is never alone with a book nearby, don't you agree? Every page reminds us of a day that has passed and makes us relive the emotions that filled it. Happy hours underlined in red pencil, dark ones in black...”