“We are all, I suppose, beholden to our parents - the question is, how much?”

“We each appear to hold within ourselves a range of divergent views as to our native qualities.. And amid such uncertainty, we typically turn to the wider world to settle the question of our significance.. we seem beholden to affections of others to endure ourselves.”

“This is how humans are: We question all our beliefs, except for the ones that we really believe in, and those we never think to question.”

“And after all, our mythology may be much nearer to literal truth than we suppose.”

“I certainly believe we all suffer damage, one way or another. How could we not,except in a world of perfect parents, siblings, neighbours, companions? And then there is the question on which so much depends, of how we react to the damage: whether we admit it or repress it,and how this affects our dealings with others.Some admit the damage, and try to mitigate it;some spend their lives trying to help others who are damaged; and there are those whose main concern is to avoid further damage to themselves, at whatever cost. And those are the ones who are ruthless, and the ones to be careful of.”

“We all have our alloted portions of black and white paint; how we lay it on is a question of temperament.”