“This divergence of experience was not a stumbling block to conversation; indeed, it was what made the conversation interesting.”

“You are a very special child," the old handmaid said, stroking Eleonora's hair. "You know that don't you?"Eleonora mumbled a yes."You know you are special, but I think that you aren't sure how."She nodded. That was, indeed, the crux of it.”

“A slippery fish, flashing scales in the water and a noble fighter on the line, but dull as lead at the bottom of the boat.”

“With every choice, even the choice of inactivity, we must shut the door to a host of alternate futures. Each step we take along the path of fate represents a narrowing of potential, the death of a parallel world. The path of fate was more like a tunnel, and it was constricting about her with ever step she took.”

“She hadn't lied. She hadn't betrayed anyone's trust; still, she felt she had done something wrong. Or rather, she had not yet done the right thing. Was there a difference between these two sins?”

“People ask why my brother killed himself. "Why would such a gifted journalist, whose works have won all the prizes in the world, do such a thing?" "He had so many friends, why would he want to leave them?" "But what about all he had to live for?" In a short space of time, I had a drawerful of articles wirtten by reporters pondering the death of one who, like them, made a living out of trying to sort out the truth, separating fact from conjecture. They were hell-bent on making sense out of this event.When they phoned, I told them they were going to fail. I told them that the problem with suicide is that it is a senseless event. There is no why.But of course that's wrong. There are numerous whys, though it's almost impossible, or unlikely that any single one of them is "the answer" that people want to hear.”

“It's your Christmas present.What is?All this. The whole world. The houses, cars, streets, the wind... it's all yours. You can do what you like.Sorry, but I'm not sure it's a good present. It's windy... ...there's a mist. It's so cold. And this world isn't that good.”