“Anything that smiles often needs to be reminded that the world is a cruel, dark place.”

“The Chinese enjoyed the grim spectacle of death, Jim had decided, as a way of reminding themselves of how precariously they were alive. They liked to be cruel for the same reason, to remind themselves of the vanity of thinking that the world was anything else.”

“People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.”

“The world was a terrible place, cruel, pitiless, dark as a bad dream. Not a good place to live. Only in books could you find pity, comfort, happiness - and love. Books loved anyone who opened them, they gave you security and friendship and didn't ask anything in return; they never went away, never, not even when you treated them badly.”

“Don't be so cruel to me. Don't promise me anything. I've got everything that i need. I need love in a good way.”

“The world was still a turbulent and uncertain place. And there were serpents.But serpents still make the world a place for adventures, Rose reminded herself.”