Sadness was a very heavy thing.

The swan who goes on living in its parents' tree will die; this is why those who are beautiful and talented bear the burden of finding their own way in the world.

Passion can quickly slip to jealousy, or even hatred.

Even stone can be worn down with enough rain.

I stumbled out into the courtyard to try to flee my misery, but of course we can never flee the misery that is within us.

It's less a matter of looking the other way than of closing our eyes to what we can't stop from happening.

What an unbearable sorrow it would be, to realized I'd never really tasted to things I'd eaten, or seen the places I'd been. What life would I have? I would be like the dancer who had practiced since childhood for a performance she would never give.