“Creff, my factotum, interrupted the breakfast he had brought me only a few minutes earlier and announced that a crazed Ethiope was at the door, presumably to buy a watch.”

“The intentions as to reading, working, and learning, which he had so precisely formulated only a few minutes earlier, were suffering a curious collapse into a corner, he knew not how.”

“If I only had five minutes left to live, I’d only be half as alarmed as normal, because my watch is five minutes fast. And I can get a lot done in 10 minutes.”

“Then all of a sudden, his hazel eyes penetrated me in a way that succeeded in melting away my anger. My heartbeat quickened and my adrenaline pumped but in a different way than it had been a few minutes earlier. Suddenly it was like I forgot how to form words. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.”

“You've smiled at him four hundred and forty six times as of a few minutes ago. He announces the number every time I see him.”

“Each night, Liesel would step outside, wipe the door, and watch the sky. Usually it was like spillage - cold and heavy, slippery and gray - but once in a while some stars had the nerve to rise and float, if only for a few minutes. On those nights, she would stay a little longer and wait.Hello, stars.”