That's one of the great sadnesses of any life - knowing what you know now and then remembering what you did not know then.

We keep wanting to save those who are forlorn in this world. It’s a male habit.

I am someone who has a cold heart. If I am beside a great grief I throw barriers up so the loss cannot go too deep or too far. There is a wall instantly in place, and it will not fall.

I have spent weeks in the desert, forgetting to look at the moon, he says, as a married man may spend days never looking into the face of his wife. These are not sins of omission but signs of pre-occuopation.

That's one of the great sadnesses of any life - knowing what you know now and then remembering what you did not know then.

He came to this country like a torch on fire and he swallowed air as he walked forward and he gave out light

So many nurses had turned into emotionally disturbed handmaidens of the war, in their yellow-and-crimson uniforms with bone buttons.