“Time stretched, expanded so there was just him and me and the closenss, and I thought how it was all very well to tell yourself what you should and shouldn't feel but in the end the should word didn't make the slightest scrap of difference.”

“Madeline knew how that was. So many people had ideas of what you should and shouldn't do, but in the end you had to decide for yourself.”

“You keep telling yourself it will be different. Year after year, time after time, you keep telling yourself things might change. It's what makes people go back to people they shouldn't ever go back to.”

“Why should you feel honored for getting scraps of his time?”

“If what they say are just words and what they think are just thoughts, then why should you care how they view you?”

“Why didn't you tell me to take Attolia's advice from the beginning?""I thought you should figure it out. What you learn for yourself, you will know forever," said Eugenides."Pol used to say that," said Sounis, surprised."I learned it from him. I just wish to my god that I had his patience for the process.”