“You bite the bullet and get on with it. One can't expect to be happy all the time ... You expect to be happy, as if it's a right. It's not a right. It's a bonus. The cherry on the cake.”

“I expect you to get up in the morning, the rest is a surprise!”

“Loving isn't about selecting only the good parts. It's about taking the whole and loving the lot.”

“She was an original ... She was an eccentric. She'd come alive like a fire, telling funny stories and entertaining everyone, then she'd suddenly run out of fuel, make her excuses and leave. You always knew when she'd had enough. Those that didn't would find themselves talk to the walls.”

“Maar het hart kan nooit vergeten en wonden kunnen nooit echt helemaal genezen.”

“I like things to be clearly defined. Trouble brews when the lines are blurred. When people don't know where they stand.”

“Oh, my dear boy, one mustn't expect gratitude. It's a thing that no one has a right to. After all, you do good because it gives you pleasure. It's the purest form of happiness there is. To expect thanks for it is really asking too much. If you get it, well, it's like a bonus on shares on which you've already received a dividend; it's grand, but you mustn't look upon it as your due.[The back of beyond]”