“I'm just like this. I have no talent for choosing my battles. Life seems, strangely, like a battle to me. The whole thing.”

“But we don't have to react. That's what I'm saying. A police force, like a government, should be above that. Just because we're provoked doesn't mean we have to act. -- Still Life”

“I don't know what came over me. It's like sometimes when it's very quiet I feel like screaming. And sometimes when I'm holding something delicate I feel like dropping it. I don't know why.”

“All my works have vessels of some sort. Containers. Sometimes it's in the negative space, sometimes it's more obvious ...He's very loyal. He puts everything he has into one thing. one interest, one hobby, one friend, one love. I'm his love and it scares the shit out of me ... He's poured all his love into me. I'm his vessel. But suppose I crack? Suppose I break? Suppose I die? What would he do?”

“And what else did you find?''God' he said simple. 'In a diner.''What was he eating?'The question was so unexpected Gamache hesitated then laughed.'Lemon meringue pie.''And how do you know He was God?'...'I don't,' he admitted. 'He might have been just a fisherman. He was certainly dressed like one. But he looked across the room at me with such tenderness, such love, I was staggered...then he turned back to me with the most radiant smile I'd ever seen. I was filled with joy.”

“I went through a period in my life when I had no friends, when the phone never rang, when I thought I would die from loneliness. I know that the real blessing here isn't that I have a book published, but that I have so many people to thank.”

“Or - perhaps - I should just worry about my own behavior and let others be who they are.”