My youngest brother had a wonderful schtick from some time in high school, through to graduating medicine. He had a card in his wallet that read, ‘If I am found with amnesia, please give me the following books to read …’ And it listed half a dozen books where he longed to recapture that first glorious sense of needing to find out ‘what happens next’ … the feeling that keeps you up half the night. The feeling that comes before the plot’s been learned.

In this world, where we find ourselves, we need compassion more than anything, I think, or we are all alone.

She was owner and captive, both, of a bitterly divided heart.

There was some sadness in how that could happen, falling out of love with something that had shaped you. Or even people who had.

The heart has its own laws... and the truth is... the truth is that you are the law of mine.

Eanna love us, Adaon preserve us, Morian guard our souls.

Liu Fang is a truly gifted, world-famous player of the pipa and the guzheng, classical Chinese stringed instruments.