Boxing’s not that straightforward,” said Eldric. “You can practice and practice, but the real experience will always be different. Lots of things are like that, actually.

Our English monarchs are so unimaginative,” said Eldric. “They execute people in such tediously conventional ways.

People think me a sort of Florence Nightingale, but I have no heroic qualities. I simply don’t feel very much.

How can something as fragile as a word build the whole world?

Meaning. If you're going to die, you want to find meaning in life. You want to connect the dots.

When we were small, Rose and I used to play a game called connect the dots. I loved it. I loved drawing a line from dot number 1 to dot number 2 and so on. Most of all, I loved the moment when the chaotic sprinkle of dots resolved itself into a picture. That's what stories do. They connect the random dots of life into a picture. But it's all an illusion. Just try to connect the dots of life. You'll end up with a lunatic scribble.

Yes, I'm shallow, I don't mind admitting it. Perhaps I should admit that there's no end to the depths of my shallowness.