“Somehow they felt they were living in a moment when history pauses and takes stock and changes course.”

“At moments of departure and a change of life, people capable of reflecting on their actions usually get into a serious state of mind. At these moments they usually take stock of the past and make plans for the future.”

“There were moments in which a person reached a crossroads, when something happened, out of the blue, to change the course of life's events.”

“We live in a moment of history where change is so speeded up that we begin to see the present only when it is already disappearing.”

“I have started to think that the great, decisive moments that broadly govern our lives are far less conscious at the time than they seem later when we are reminiscing and taking stock.”

“Things spoken can be forgotten and forgiven, but the written word has the power to change the course of history, to alter our lives.”