Some people spend their whole lives looking for themselves, yet our self is the one thing we surely cannot lose (how like a cheap philosopher I am become, staying in this benighted place). From the moment we are conceived it is the pattern in our blood and our bones are printed through with it like sticks of seaside rock. Nora, on the other hand, says that sheโs surprised anyone knows who they are, considering that every cell and molecule in our bodies has been replaced many times over since we were born.
Kate AtkinsonIf people believed in eternal damnation they might not be seizing the day quite so much.
Kate AtkinsonHindsight's a wonderful thing. If we all had it there would be no history to write about.
Kate AtkinsonSylvia loved secrets and even if she didn't have any secrets she made sure that you thought she did. Amelia had no secrets, Amelia knew nothing. When she grew up she planned to know everything and to keep it all a secret.
Kate AtkinsonI think about death a lot, I really do, because I can't believe I won't exist. It's the ego isn't it? I feel that I should retreat into a better form of Zen Buddhism than this kind of ego-dominated thing. But I don't know, I mean, I want to come back as a tree but I suspect that it's just not going to happen, is it?
Kate Atkinson