“There are things which couldn't be expressed by the words,when you've mastered certain lesson for more than 30 years.”

“Nevertheless . . was a word, certainly, but much more than a word, it was a concept. "Nevertheless" was what you said when you were not going to budge, whether expressing an opinion or an intention. It was a statement, not a question, and the only word in the English language to which it was pointless to respond. If you wanted to end a conversation or an argument "nevertheless" was your word.”

“When the voice and the vision on the inside is more profound, and more clear and loud than all opinions on the outside, you've begun to master your life”

“But after a certain point in a marriage, you stopped having a certain kind of fight, Olive thought, because when the years behind you were more than the years in front of you, things were different.”

“When you've learnt the lesson, that's the lesson”

“You don't lose a partner you've been with for 30-odd years and just wake up one day with a smile.”