"Find that person who will make your whole world tremble with a few words. Apprentice yourself faithfully to him until you can make your own world tremble constantly."

"No-one had ever looked at me before Suzanne, not really, so she had become my definition. Her gaze softening my centre so easily that even photographs of her seemed aimed at me, ignited with private meaning."

"Love EgoistSumire: At first, I was simply fighting the image others forced on me. It's true that it's kind of fun to curse people behind their backs, but... I know it's not nice and it makes me feel depressed afterward."

"When he put his arms around me, and held me to his chest, everything in me settled. When he spoke into my ear, it all came loose again, as if his words evaporated the gravity of my mind."

"It all comes together inside her, and she can’t begin to explain. “It’s just a pattern,” she says, feeling bad because it’s a lie. She’s lying to Miss Justineau, who she loves more than anyone in the world. And of course the other part of the feeling, that’s even harder to say, is that they’re each other’s home now. They have to be."

"I always hoped for this spark of chemistry and compatibility, a flash of clarity to let me know that this was the guy, this was the time, so I should leg go and enjoy myself. But it never came. And by no small coincidence, neither did I."