“My Sihaya,’ he said as he held her, ‘I have loved you for five thousand years.”

“A man may fight the greatest enemy, take the longest journey, survive the most grievous wound -- and still be helpless in the hands of the woman he loves.”

“Brilliant, Piter! I'm glad I didn't execute you all those times when you were so annoying.''So am I,' de Vries said.”

“Humans are different in private than in the presence of others. While the private persona merges into the social persona in varying degrees, the union is never complete. Something is always held back.”

“If you surrender, you have already lost. If you refuse to give up, though, no matter the odds against you, at least you have succeeded in trying.”

“You carve wounds upon my flesh and write there in salt!”

“How will I be remembered by my children? This is the true measure of a man.”