Human beings believe just as they breathe - in order to survive.

Sometimes, in difficult circumstances, one can confuse compassion with love.

The greatest multiplex in the universe is inside your mind, and the only ticket you need is a good, well-written novel.

It might have been that notion, or just chance, or its more flamboyant relative, destiny.

I can't die yet, doctor. Not yet. I have things to do. Afterwords I'll have a whole lifetime in which to die.

Books are mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside you.

The fact is that nothing is more difficult to believe than the truth; conversely, nothing seduces like the power of lies, the greater the better. It's only natural, and you will have to find the right balance. Having said that, let me add that this particular old woman hasn't been collecting only years; she has also collected stories, and none sadder or more terrible than the one she's about to tell you. You have been at the heart of this story without knowing it until today.