But in the end, fighting for a love that was already gone felt like trying to live in the ruins of a lost city.

All that was left for me was a terrible kind of paralysis, this waiting game, this heartbreak game.

A week passes but it feels as if he's never been anywhere else. It's one of the things war does to you. Everything you see works to replace moments and people from your life before, until you can't remember why any of it mattered. It doesn't help if you're a soldier. The effect is the same.

She was also incredibly confident, with a way of moving and talking that communicated that she didn't need anyone to tell her she was beautiful or worthwhile.

Don't tell readers what to think. Let the action speak for itself.

More and more I find myself at a loss for words and didn't want to hear other people talking either. Their conversations seemed false and empty. I preferred to look at the sea, which said nothing and never made you feel alone.

Though I often looked for one, I finally had to admit that there could be no cure for Paris.