“To have her meals, and her daily walk, and her fill of novels, and to be left alone, was all that she asked of the gods.”

“A successful novel should interrupt the reader’s life, make him or her miss appointments, skip meals, forget to walk the dog.”

“His love for her was a gift he gave her daily, expecting nothing in return. He walked at her side, his love for her a torch to guide her footsteps along the dark path she walked.”

“Because no, I didn’t push her away. I didn’t add to her pain or do anything tohurt her. Instead, I left her alone in that room. The only person who might’ve been able to reach out and save her from herself. To pull her back from wherever she was heading.I did what she asked and I left. When I should have stayed.”

“She stared at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were dark, almost black, filled with pain. She'd let someone do that to her. She'd known all along she felt things too deeply. She became attached. She didn't want a lover who could walk away from her, because she could never do that - love someone completely and survive intact if her left her.”

“He followed his daily routine, and she followed hers. But without her there, Tengo noticed a human-shaped void she had left behind.”