“Without the light, no chance; without the dark, no dance.”

“I believe in the resistance as I believe there can be no light without shadow; or rather, no shadow unless there is also light.”

“Stick a shovel into the ground almost anywhere and some horrible thing or other will come to light. Good for trade, we thrive on bones; without them there'd be no stories.”

“He needed to exist only in the present, without guilt, without expectation.”

“I don’t even close my eyes. Out there or inside my head, it’s an equal darkness. Or light.”

“But in the end, back she comes. There's no use resisting. She goes to him for amnesia, for oblivion. She renders herself up, is blotted out; enters the darkness of her own body, forgets her name. Immolation is what she wants, however briefly. To exist without boundaries.”

“I was unfair to him, of course, but where would I have been without unfairness? In thrall, in harness. Young women need unfairness, it's one of their few defenses. They need their callousness, they need their ignorance. They walk in the dark, along the edges of high cliffs, humming to themselves, thinking themselves invulnerable.”