“Dad brought it home from Paris when Terese was five. What other kid that age had a $10,000 oboe?”

“...the overture began. God! Strings! Oboes! Timpani! Are you fucking kidding me? Why, when we know what human beings are capable of doing, do we not turn our collective heads in shame at the sight of rich housewives screaming at each other on television?”

“There is never any ending to Paris and the memory of each person who has lived in it differs from that of any other. We always returned to it no matter who we were or how it was changed or with what difficulties, or ease, it could be reached. Paris was always worth it and you received return for whatever you brought to it. But this is how Paris was in the early days when we were very poor and very happy.”

“...he brought music of his own, and awakened every fairy echo with the tender accents of his oboe...”

“She looked at the kids, who did not see [them] because they were past the age of twenty-five...”

“The horn . . . is the joint hardest instrument to learn. . . . (The other is the oboe).”