“It seemed to me that I was suddenly in the presence of incosolable, unavoidable, and immense pain.The thought of that death hunted me and turned everything else into nothing.”

“He must love me, i thought, amazed. A faint whiff of nausea hit me at seeing pain as proof of love, but it seemed true. Unavoidable.”

“I am not absentminded. It is the presence of mind that makes me unaware of everything else.”

“Death suddenly seemed unimportant and life seemed everything”

“When you were still here, Isobe thought, death seemed so far removed from me. It was as though you stood with both arms outstretched, keeping death from me. But now that you're gone, suddenly it seems right here in front of me.”

“And when Rambo whispered to me, assuring me of my nearest death, I was relieved at my parents' absence, for my death like all death should be a death and an end- no memory, no photograph, no stories and no mother's tears. In death everything should cease. All else is nothing but human vanity and make-believe.”