Anticipation! It occurred to him that his anticipation was more pleasant to him than the experiencing.

He liked the fact that Venice had no cars. It made the city human. The streets were like veins, he thought, and the people were the blood, circulating everywhere.

How easy it was to lie when one had to lie!

one blow in anger [would] kill, probably, a child from aged two to eight. Those over eight would take two blows to kill.

Life is a long failure of understanding ... a long, mistaken shutting of the heart.

Perhaps it was freedom itself that choked her.

How was it possible to be afraid and in love... The two things did not go together. How was it possible to be afraid, when the two of them grew stronger together every day? And every night. Every night was different, and every morning. Together they possessed a miracle.