“People in Africa have a well-deserved reputation for being happy. This may explain why: there is no word in Swahili for "sarcasm" therefore Africans have no concept of saying something and having it mean a playfully snide version of the opposite.”

“Hurt people hurt people. We are not being judgmental by separating ourselves from such people. But we should do so with compassion. Compassion is defined as a "keen awareness of the suffering of another coupled with a desire to see it relieved." People hurt others as a result of their own inner strife and pain. Avoid the reactive response of believeing they are bad; they already think so and are acting that way. They aren't bad; they are damaged and they deserve compassion. Note that compassion is an internal process, an understanding of the painful and troubled road trod by another. It is not trying to change or fix that person.”

“Misery not only loves company, it derives validation from it.”

“A belief is an absolute but arbitrary mental stance.”

“Karen, her elbows folded on the deck-rail, wanted to share with someone the pleasure in being alone: this is the paradox of any happy solitude. She had never landed at Cork, so this hill and that hill beyond were as unexpected as pictures at which you say "Oh look!" Nobody was beside her to share the moment, which would have been imperfect with anyone else there.”

“...there must be something she wanted; and that therefore she was no lady.”

“Solitary and farouche people don't have relationships; they are quite unrelatable.”