“Sophia, you’re the best thing that could have happened to Alistair. I’ve never seen him happier than he is now.”

“He doesn’t like making others uncomfortable.”-Helen to Sophia about Alistair”

“That night as they slept in each other's arms neither Alistair nor Sophia had any nightmares.”

“Reincarnation?”He shrugged. “I’ve never seen any evidence that it’s real. But I’ve never seen anything that disproves it either. I believe the afterlife is better than what we have here—and it would take something extraordinary to make someone willing to come back.”

“I’ve seen excitement, and I’ve seen boredom. And boredom was best.”

“That is one thing I am sure of amid my many uncertainties regarding the literary vocation: deep inside, a writer feels that writing is the best thing that ever happened to him, or could ever happen to him, because as far as he is concerned, writing is the best possible way of life, never mind the social, political, or financial rewards of what he might achieve through it.”