“She was a very good cook and also believed that color combinations of the food on your plate were important: "It isn't very interesting to eat a plate full of white, therefore it can't be very good for you either.”

“But suppose you struggle through to the good and find that it also is dreadful? How if food itself turns out to be the very thing you can't eat, and home the very place you can't live, and your very comforter the person who makes you uncomfortable? Then, indeed, there is no rescue possible: the last card has been played.”

“The curse of an interesting life: there are either very good times or very bad times.”

“Magnus, you were trying to flirt with your own plate.""I'm a very open-minded sort of fellow!”

“There is a particular hapiness in giving a man whom you like very much, good food that you have cooked yourself.”

“As long as what you are afraid of is something evil, you may still hope that the good may come to your rescue. But suppose you struggle through to the good and find that it is also dreadful? How if food itself turns out to be the very thing you can’t eat and home the very place you can’t live, and your very comforter the person who makes you uncomfortable. Then, indeed, there is no rescue possible: the last card has been played.”