“These emotions, this love, this fear, this gratitude, this relief, the grief – none of it reallyexists. None of it has mass or location, none of it can be weighed or photographed. None ofthese emotions last, none of them can be measured – except in that very moment when we'refeeling them. They're like music – once the notes are played, they disappear. They only existin that moment in time. Love isn't merely something we feel, it's something we create –something we have to keep creating in each and every moment. It's a song we have to keepplaying.Because we know it doesn't really exist. We can't hold it. We can't lock it away. We can'tinsure it. It's just a melody we play on and on. Our own Songline. We can only go on playingit, moment by moment, until we're all out of moments.It seems sort of pointless, striving so hard for perfection in something that doesn't reallyexist. But, my, what a symphony it is.And it's funny really, because for something that doesn't exist, it seems to be the onlything that human beings never run out of. As long as we have faith in its magic, love is theonly thing that lasts.”

“No, it's not that. It's not what you're thinking. I was serious when I said 'all of it'. I can remember every moment we were together, and in eachof them there was something wonderful. I can't really pick any one time that meant more than any other. The entire summer was perfect, the kind of summer everyone should have. How could I pick one moment over another? Poets often describe love as an emotion that we can't control, one that overwhelms logic and common sense. That's what it was like for me. I didn't plan on falling in love with you, and I doubt if you planned on falling in love with me. But once we met, it was clear that neither of us could control what was happening to us. We fell in love, despite our differences, and once we did, something rare and beautiful was created. For me, love like that has happened only once, and that's why every minute we spent together has been seared in my memory. I'll never forget a single moment of it.”

“When we hold each other, in the darkness, it doesn't make the darkness go away. The bad things are still out there. The nightmares still walking. When we hold each other we feel not safe, but better. "It's all right" we whisper, "I'm here, I love you." and we lie: "I'll never leave you." For just a moment or two the darkness doesn't seem so bad.”

“We seldom know what we're hearing when we hear something for the first time, but one thing is certain: we hear it as we will never hear it again. We return to the moment to experience it, I suppose, but we can never really find it, only its memory, the faintest imprint of what really was, what it meant.”

“Happiness of heart can never be measured out and bundled up, it's intangible. We keep running after it, grasping for it, and the heat of our running so seldom brings it closer. But now and then there may be a moment. We look at something and know it is good and beautiful. Those moments are happiness.”

“There is something that happens to the mind in moments of terror. Perhaps we figure it's the last we'll ever have and we record it for the rest of our long journey. We take perfect snapshots an album to despair over. We trim the edges and place them in plastic. We tuck the scrapbook away to take out in our ruined times.”