Once, in my father's bookshop, I heard a regular customer say that few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first images, the echo of words we think we have left behind, accompany us throughout our lives and sculpt a palace in our memory to which, sooner or later—no matter how many books we read, how many worlds we discover, or how much we learn or forget—we will return.

... deep down nobody is bad, only frightened.

There are two things in life you cannot choose. The first is your enemies; the second your family. Sometimes the difference between them is hard to see, but in the end time will show you that the cards you have been dealt could always have been worse.

Over time, loneliness gets inside you and doesn't go away.

Time has taught me not to lose hope, yet not to trust too much in hope either.

Childhood devotions make unfaithful and fickle lovers.

The truth is what hurts