At peace? Who but the insane would ever be at peace? What person who has enjoyed life could possibly think one is enough? Who could live even a day and not feel the sweet ache of regret?

A writer needs four things to achieve greatness, Pasquale: desire, disappointment, and the sea.” “That’s only three.” Alvis finished his wine. “You have to do disappointment twice.

You have to do disappointment twice.

This is what happens when you live in dreams, he thought: you dream this and you dream that and you sleep right through your life.

What business does memory have with time?

He considered it a shame when people couldn't grasp the infinite-a failure not just of imagination but of simple vision.

There are only two good outcomes for a quest like this, the hope of the serendipitous savant — sail for Asia and stumble on America — and the hope of scarecrows and tin men: that you find out you had the thing you sought all along.