“From somewhere, back in my youth, heard Prof say, 'Manuel, when faced with a problem you do not understand, do any part of it you do understand, then look at it again.' He had been teaching me something he himself did not understand very well—something in math—but had taught me something far more important, a basic principle.”

“when faced with a problem you do not understand, do any part of it you do understand, then look at it again.”

“One thing concerns me a little, nick has a girlfriend, right? Well, how do you think she'll  feel about all of this? He probed. He had this look on his face that he always had when I'm doing something a little bit naughty. You know, something you can get away with, but it's still a bit dodgy.”

“When you had to do something, you had to do it. And eventually, if you were lucky, you did it well.”

“As long as you live under my roof, you'll do what I say!" he shouted.Then I'll find another roof, I thought."You understand me?" he said."Yes sir, I understand" I said, and I did too. I understand that a new rooftop would do wonders for me.”

“I have a problem when people say something's real or not real, or normal or abnormal. The meaning of those words for me is very personal and subjective. I've always been confused and never had a clearcut understanding of the meaning of those kinds of words.”