Very few of my characters are based on people I've known. It is too constricting.

You grew old first not in your own eyes, but in other people's eyes; then, slowly, you agreed with their opinion of you.

Start with the notion that yours is the sole responsibility unless there's powerful evidence to the contrary

I certainly believe we all suffer damage, one way or another. How could we not,except in a world of perfect parents, siblings, neighbours, companions? And then there is the question on which so much depends, of how we react to the damage: whether we admit it or repress it,and how this affects our dealings with others.Some admit the damage, and try to mitigate it;some spend their lives trying to help others who are damaged; and there are those whose main concern is to avoid further damage to themselves, at whatever cost. And those are the ones who are ruthless, and the ones to be careful of.

In life, every ending is just the start of another story.

Memory is identity....You are what you have done; what you have done is in your memory; what you remember defines who you are; when you forget your life you cease to be, even before your death.

And yet it takes only the smallest pleasure or pain to teach us time’s malleability.