“Each woman is like an instrument, waiting to be learned, loved, and finely played, to have at last her own true music made.”

“The sign of a true woman isn't the ability to recite French poetry or play the pianoforte or cook Chateaubriand. The sign of a true woman is learning to listen to her own voice even when society does its best to drown it out.”

“It's easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself.”

“At every moment, each instrument knew what to play. Its little bit. But none could see the whole thing like this, all at once, only its own part. Just like life. Each person was like a line of music, but nobody knew what the symphony sounded like. Only the conductor had the whole score.”

“Life is like playing the violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.”

“For children love is a feeling; for adults, it is a decision. Children wait to learn if their love is true by seeing how long it lasts; adults make their love true by never wavering from their commitment.”