“Death comes suddenly and life is fragile and brief. No one can alter this either by prayers or spells.”

“She entered a state where prayer and poetry became one and the everyday world seemed full of holiness and significance.”

“It's like a spell. It's so strong I can't fight it. Is love always like this?”

“Don't you know the man whose life you spare will always hate you?”

“They reminded me of the people of my village, their indomitable spirit in the face of disaster, their unshakable belief that no matter what might befall them, life was basically good and the world benign.”

“It's what you do to yourself when you go mad with rage. You have no idea how much you can hurt yourself with your own strength.”

“..while I was happy enough to pray to any god, knowing that they were simply different faces created by men, of one indivisible truth.”