“The advantage of being married a long time was that one could argue without the necessity of the other's actual, physical presence.”

“It's the perfect solution. We argue all the time. We can't stand each other. It's like we're already married.”

“One of the blessings human beings take for granted is the ability to remember pain without re-feeling it. The pain of the physical wounds is long gone …and the other kind of hurt, the damage done to our spirits, has been healed. We are careful with those scarred places in each other. ”

“They believe one becomes selfless in love because one desires the advantage of another human being, often against one's own advantage. But in return for that they want to possess the other person.”

“With this idea, being a man with long experience of the sea (and they certainly have a great advantage over other men in any sort of task)...”

“the whole idea of boys being people you would actually choose to spend time with was pretty much totally incomprehensible to me. i could never think of anything to say to them, and they seemed equally dumbstruck by my presence. ”